Still here!

 I have been out checking nests the last two days as have several of the monitors also! Reports are still coming in!

I visited 20 nests yesterday and only two of them had ospreys….a chick on one nest with a fish, who took her meal to a tree to eat. I must have just missed Dad. The other nest had a chick with a full crop….just hanging out at home!

Today I checked 5 nests….and only one had ospreys . When I arrived I found the adult male, on a cell tower near the nest. He was waiting, snoozing, preening and I just knew by his behavior that his kids were still around, so I waited. Eventually two ospreys flew right past him….one at a time, and none made any vocalizations. It had to be the kids! They flew off to the NE and I could see them circling….eventually disappearing. Dad kept snoozing. 

Finally one juvenile came back and landed in the nest,, followed closely by the other chick. Sweet. They were just out playing together. These two has gone thru so many shenanagins that I wondered if they both would make it. One day, shortly after fledging, I watched one of them try to land on the light cover on the lights where their nest is…..he slipped and was hanging there between two lights, feet hanging down, wings spread over two lights. My heart raced…..was I going to have to mount a rescue? Then he simply put his wings up and he slid right thru the lights and came out flying below, circled around and made it back to the nest! Whew. So here they are many weeks later, doing fine and I loved that they were out and about together. And Dad was waiting patiently at home. When they were both back on the nest they started food begging and off went Dad. I waited a while but it started to rain so I headed home. So osprey season is not over yet!

A few more….

 I visited a few more nests today, on this cloudy drizzly day. The first stop was the nest where the orphans bio -dad lives….and the chick ( orphans half sister) was still there and food begging, tho I couldn’t see the dad. He must have been there. This chick is about a week younger than the orphan who departed last week….so it makes sense that she is still around.

Then I stopped at the orphans nest….and found a juvenile bald eagle on the lights! No ospreys objecting to his presence.

Then I headed on to some other nests. I did find one chick on a nest that was one of our latest nests to fledge. Her sibling was not around but she was waiting for Dad, and hollering for food occasionally. I moved on to some other nests and found no other ospreys but did find a pair of adult bald eagles on one of the osprey nests. Hope they don’t get any bright ideas. I did not see or hear any ospreys around, and if they were there, I am sure they would have had some thoughts about these visitors.

So still a few ospreys around in that part of the metro area.

Not all gone yet!

 They aren’t all gone yet! Sometimes a miserable day like this is a good time to look for them…..cold, rainy, gray. I stopped on my way to the pottery studio to check one of my favorite nests….and there she was, the girl chick. In the rain, on the nest…..waiting.

A few hours later I came back and she was on a lightpole eating a large fish nd food begging at the same time. Funny. Then I looked around and saw the Dad on another light, also eating a fish! Together! Sweet! Then a crow came to join Dad, in case he wanted to share that fish I guess. The male was surprisingly unconcerned about the crow….no alarm call, no flapping or lunging at him. They looked like friends!

This is the nest where I watched a lingering chick for a long time last year. That is interesting to me….its obviously a different chick, hatched at a different time and yet, there they are….so maybe the signal about when to leave is coming from the male…if he is content to feed a chick for a long time, perhaps that sends a signal. Don’t know.

Then I stopped at another nest down the road….and found one chick, looking miserable in the rain. Waiting patiently….so Dad must be around!

Hard to get decent photos in this light with the steady rain….me and my scope got soaked. But it was worth it to see some of my friends. I checked six other nests yesterday and found zero ospreys. They could be around, just not at the nest. A rainy day is often a time they may return home to get some food.

I will check a few more nests tomorrow….

Gone with the Wind…

 I woke up very early to the sound of strong winds….but by the time I got up it had calmed down a bit. I headed over to check on the orphan and her benefactor.

No one was there. So I waited. In about 30 minutes the male showed up with a good size fish. He did not go to the nest, but remained on a lightpole nearby and he really wolfed that fish down. His crop was pretty empty. Then he sat there, preening, snoozing for over two hours. I just watched him and marveled at him….took a lot of photos.

Then a bald eagle flew over and he gave an alarm call and chased him off. He returned to a nearby tree for another 30 minutes or so and then he flew off to the SE. I went looking for him and the chick, and I did not see either of them.

I visited three other nests, all of which had a chick nearby and in several cases a male stopped by. After each nest, I returned to check on the orphan and benefactor.

I did not see the chick at all today, so she may have started her grand journey. This is just what we hoped for….that she would go when she wanted to, when she felt ready….knowing that she could stay and be cared for. This male did this job perfectly, for at least five weeks, even tho it wasn’t his job to do. I ponder this a lot. I will go back tomorrow and look around again just to be sure…see if either of them is around.

Clearly other ospreys are still around. I saw the Arb chick on the nest this morning, but the male came by several times with a fish this afternoon and no chick came to the nest for food….so maybe that chick went today as well. He also did his job perfectly. I love to see those males staying until there is no one to feed.

I still have other late fledgers to check on, but maybe this captivating, engrossing episode has come to its conclusion. I wish that chick was banded so we would know her in the future, but chicks do change a bit when they go thru their first molt. I will know the male for sure if he returns next spring. I think that is what we all hope for, this devoted male to mate with the female who has struggled for so many years on her own, and for them to develop a real pair bond and raise some chicks together.

One of the chicks that is still remaining is the orphans half sister…she is about a week younger…so not quite ready, I guess.

Still a bunch of ospreys around….

 Another hot day out there….I stopped first at the nest where the bio- dad of lil orphan Annie, and her half sister lives. That chick was in the tree with a fish…..Didnt see dad but clearly he had been there to deliver breakfast.

Then I proceeded to the nest lil orphan Annie lives…..she was on the nest waiting. At first I did not see the male but the the chick got very defensive and flew off to the lights….and I saw an adult osprey chasing a bald eagle. Must be the male. He and the eagle disappeared so I went looking for them, and during that time, the chick had flown off.

As I waited the male arrived with a fish and he flew in circles around the area, looking for the chick, but she wasn’t there, and the male disappeared as well.

I spent a few hours searching for both of them….nearby lakes etc….and while making that tour I stopped at another nest where I saw one chick…..and that dad delivered a fish to her. So interesting….she took the fish and flew off towards the lake so I went looking for her, but then she circled back to the ballfield and landed on a light to eat her fish. If you hadn t seen the dad deliver the fish, you might have thought that she caught the fish since she came back from the lake with it. Humans like to make up stories and sometimes they fail to accurately tease out the facts. If you didn’t actually see a chick catch a fish, dont assume that is what happened!

When I got back to the other nest, the male was there with a fish….waiting, and waiting, and waiting. He snoozed, he looked around. Looking for her….waiting for her….the fish was for her. Finally he flew to the lights…and after some more waiting, he slowly ate the fish. Damn, she missed another meal. Then he flew off. I waited. Finally here comes the princess to the nest, crying all the way. She waits there for a delivery for quite a while….and the. The male arrived, WITHOUT a fish! The chick could t believe it. I will include the whole sequence of photos….at the end the chick sort of attacked the male, pushing him off the nest. How dare he come to the nest without a fish! Jeeez after all he has done for her….but the chick was mad. Ha ha. The male didn’t seem to mind. Ok ok ok….off he went. But I was hot and tired. I knew he would bring a fish. They are both still here….as well as several other nests. A cool front is coming thru tonight, bringing a shift in the winds….sometime around midnight the winds will become more northerly. Will they be there tomorrow? Sunday? A few more days? A week? I don’t know….but I will keep checking.

Still here….

 I was inundated by all the “Birdcast” migration alerts for last night….they predicted a massive wave and many osprey people thought for sure our friends would be gone today. My instincts were sending me a different message….but you never know. So I went out to check some nests before another committment I had today. Our little orphan Annie was in a tree with a full-ish crop, perched so close to me it was hard to focus the scope that close!!!! I didnt see the male but clearly he had been there. Then I checked another nest, and in the morning I saw the resident male with a whole fish, waiting for his chick to show up. Later when I checked back, that chick was there…..so both of them are still present. Then I checked a nest of one of our later fledging chicks where the monitor had been unable to locate her… and she was still there….but too far away for a decent photo. Just perching on the nest edge and asking for some dinner, tho I couldn’t see the male. I also looked at the Arboretum nest both this morning and this afternoon….still one chick and dad are here. So , some ospreys are still here….I am sure there are many others too, but we must work harder for the sightings at this time of year. They don't remain on the nest, so this is when careful observations and some sleuthing earlier pays off. I have learned many of their favorite perches, and eating trees, and I have also been recording in my notes which directions the male has often come from with fish….so I have good clues about where to search for them. All the attention to detail earlier in the breeding season can make this time of year more fun and rewarding. I have seen a lot of practicing water starts this year. But I am also worn out and have driven over 13,000 miles since the beginning of April! So now I am not pushing myself to make rounds …..but just hanging out with some of my favorites. I still visit some of the later fledging nests to see how those chicks are doing. And I may have just found out about another new nest! Ha….so I am still working hard but letting myself linger and enjoy my friends a little more.

I am deeply grateful to those monitors who have hung in there and are still sending reports and finding some ospreys. I treasure you!

Scarce….

 A quick update on the orphan and benefactor …..I arrived at the nesting site a little before 10 and did not see or hear an osprey until 1:20. It was the male who showed up with a fish. He flew circles all around the area, displaying the fish, to try to attract the chick if she was anywhere nearby. No chick showed up or was heard. He waited for a while on the nearby lights, looking in all directions and then he flew off and I could not find him. I visited nearby lakes , all the places I have ever seen them….and could not spot either of them. I was beginning to think the chick had departed. Then at 2:45 she showed up on the lights. She was totally quiet, and she did not have a super empty crop. I don’t know if she hooked up with the male elsewhere. Suddenly she flew to the nest so I thought maybe she saw him coming….but I waited another 30 minutes and then decided I needed to go home. Maybe he is weaning her….maybe she is just venturing further away….it can be a gradual process. Anyway, I saw them both. No one has departed yet. I will return soon….tho the sudden jump in gas prices has me trying to cut back a bit on the miles….I don’t live near this nest, but my curiousity about how things are developing, unfolding always wins.