What a beauty….

 After the rain today I did step out to visit a few nests…

It’s been so frustrating, with so many nests to check, when I visit and the chicks are getting close to fledge…..and then I return 9 days later and they are gone. I cant find a single one of the family. I searched and waited….even found a new nest, or start of a nest, or maybe something this pair had started previously. I didn’t hear any chicks, tho I finally found the male on another celltower. I will have to try again, and sometimes I have to accept that with this many nests, some will fall thru the cracks and I won’t have definite final outcomes. I know those chicks made it to fledging age. I just can’t get back to them soon enough. We are also searching for missing chicks post fledge on many nests….and sadly, I found another dead chick in a nest.

I also visited a nest that had three chicks but all of them disappeared much earlier in the season. I don’t know the cause, but I suspect predation. Since then I had not seen the adults and that worried me…but yesterday I found them both perched side by side , each eating a fish. The male is banded. It was a relief to know that they are both ok.

So after a disappointing few days…I went to another nest that I had been to 9 days earlier. That solo chick was starting to hop and flap then, and today when I arrived there, I could not find a single osprey. I searched all around the area, and then just sat there waiting….hoping….and when I looked up from my field book….this stunningly beautiful chick was perched on a nearby celltower. I was so happy to see him. Somehow, when you watch chicks in a nest, you don’t always see all of them, you don’t notice all the spectacular markings….and when they have fledged and are perching in the open….boy it can take my breath away! I saw no adults, but I am sure his dad is around. But some females are starting their trips to the spa….as they begin to build up their strength, their muscle mass, their hunting skills, to prepare for the big trip ahead. On a nest with a single chick, this leaves the chick alone a lot. It often seems that on larger brood nests, the chicks fly around together, they have someone to play with, someone to compete with. But on the other hand, single chicks get all the food! Anyway, this nest is one of my favorites….tho we lost the long time banded male several years ago. The new male has been a devoted mate and Dad. I think it’s the same female, tho she is unbanded. So it lifted me up to see this spectacular male chick, with a totally white breast, perched up there in the late afternoon light. What a beauty. He made my day!

The new male returned….

 Yet another interesting day where I don’t get as much done as I planned. I stopped at the single females nest…..no one was there. No one was perched in any of the usual places. I heard nothing, I searched and waited for an hour…..starting to get worried. Then as I was about to leave I saw an osprey on a water tower nearby…..I scope it and it was that handsome new male, eating a fish. Suddenly he chirps and flies towards the nest….but another osprey was flying towards the nest too and they both had a fish. They both landed…..it was Mom and the new male. But no chick. They stood there next to each other….no aggression….and then the male went off to a light pole nearby. Mom waited, looked in all directions…..she did not eat her fish. She kept looking for her daughter. After a few minutes she flew off with the fish towards the lake across the street. She flew a loop and then headed back to the nest, followed be her screaming offspring! She rounded up the kid. Then she started feeding the chick….but before long the chick said, I can do it myself and grabbed the fish from mom. Mom said OK. The chick ate. Mom watched. Then the male came to the nest with his fish! He dropped it and left. The chick looked at it and thought it was a better fish, or at least a bigger fish, and dropped the one she was eating and grabbed the one the male dropped. Then mom took the remains of the chicks fish and they both ate. Wow. So this wonderful new male is still around. He is bringing the fish to the Mom as a courtship offering. But the chick is benefiting. This is only the second time I have seen him, but that means he wasn t just passing thru….he is hanging around. He is a good hunter and always has a large fish. There is no aggression between him and the female. I am feeling kind of hopeful…..that they may be establishing the beginning of some sort of bond, and that if they both survive migration, maybe next year she will have a real mate. If this new male begins to think of this as his territory, he may be willing to fight off the polygynous male down the road. It’s still tenuous….but seeing him bring a fish for the second time certainly is a good sign. And little miss muffet is also doing well. Boy that was fun to watch

Parental care….

 I have been SO busy that I have been saving up a bunch of posts that I wanted to share with you all. These days, when chicks are fledging, are among the most important and I have to devote myself to watching them and gathering the data before we run out of time. So answering emails and writing posts have sort of taken a back seat….and I am working long hours during super hot weather….and well, one person can only do so much. So my focus has been on fieldwork, collecting the data.

Anyway….as chicks fledge I keep observing these behaviors from the adults that really touch my heart and show how deeply they care about the welfare of their offspring. A recent newspaper article here in MN claimed that osprey adults swoop down on the chicks and try to get them to fledge, to leave the nest. This is completely untrue. Osprey chicks fledge when they are physiologically able to. It is related to when the blood recedes in the feather shaft, causing the feathers to stiffen and become capable of sustaining flight. Osprey parents would never try to force their chicks to fledge before they are ready. They fly, with no encouragement or stimulation from the parents, when they are ready. One of the endearing things I have seen at many nests recently is how, when the chicks first fledge, and often land awkwardly somewhere, I see an adult go and perch very near them. There is nothing they can do to help the youngsters, but they can offer some protection from a predator….and it seems like moral support! I was at one nest, over a week ago now, where there had been two chicks on the nest and when I stopped to check….nest was totally empty. This is a nest on ballfield lights. No adults were seen and no chicks were perching on other lightpoles. I was concerned, so I drove all around the area….went down a road that goes behind this ballfield…..looking on the ground, and in the trees…..no chicks seen. I got to the end of this road and turned around….and quickly spotted two ospreys sitting side by side on a fence. I put up the scope on the car window….mom and chick. Side by side. So sweet. Then I thought, I drove right past them coming in but now they know I am looking at them…..how do I get out without disturbing them? Hmmm. Well, I will drive as far to the other side as I can and go quickly without looking at them. It didn’t work….mom flew. But chick stayed put. There was another chick missing too, so I thought I will go check some other nests….but as I drove away I thought….nope can’t do it. Gotta go back. So I watched that chick on the fence from a distance. Then I looked up and saw that dad was perched on a lightpole directly above the chick. Suddenly a lot of commotion, food begging, erupted and I saw the other missing chick return to the nest and mom met him there. When the fence sitter heard all this, she started to think she was missing something….and she walked back and forth on the fence and then finally jumped off and started circling to gain the altitude needed to get back to the nest….it was a bit windy that day and when she finally got up higher she decided to just land on the lightpole next to the one where the nest was. And within a minute, the male came over and perched right next to the chick! This is what they do! They stay close. After the chicks have been successful, this kind of care and attention will lessen. But I have seen it so much this year. At the nest with our two oldest parents, both 19 years old….when their chicks first fledged, and landed in some odd spots…..the tippy top of a pine tree….an adult would show up on the next pine tree over. Staying close. And today I was watching a nest in a gravel pit. They had one chick and the nest had no chick in it….but an adult was on the nest edge. So I closely studied the whole area, looking for the chick, and spotted him on some equipment on the far side of the quarry….and dad was perched right near him. I see this so often, and see the deep concern and support they show to these newly fledged chicks. This is a side of osprey behavior, that many may not be aware of, just warms my heart so much and makes me love them even more. What spectacular parents they are.

Fledge at the Arb!

 The first Arb chick fledged today! At a little after 8 am she took off….first photo….and she returned at about 10:47….i think at first she tried to land on the camera cause mom and the remaining chick were looking up and the whole camera shook. But then she tried again and landed in the middle of the nest between the other chick and mom. Boom! Successful fledge! Thanks to Meg for alerting me as I was out in the field….but I had been seeing the signs of imminent fledging for a few days so had her alerted. I cant sit in front of a screen that much…and I watched all morning before I had to hit to road to check many other nests….so there ya go folks…..one more to go! Any day now! But now we have to tell them apart…..

It’s quite a milestone from those early days when we were worried about whether Mom would even feed them….but she grew into a terrific parent and now she is a successful parent!

All present and accounted for!

 I was out the door again before 6 am….and checked some different nests on my way back to the one where two chicks fledged and disappeared yesterday. When I first arrived

I saw two chicks and felt dismayed that the third one had not returned. One chick was on the perch, the other was laying down. When the one laying down got up to stretch his wings….up popped a third head! All three chicks were there, so the third one who had not returned when I left at 5 pm yesterday, had found his way back home! I was so relieved! Mom was there too and I noticed that all had very empty crops. It was early….7:30 ish….so I stayed to see them all get fed. The two flighted chicks each did short loops and back to the nest. The third chick has not fledged yet. The hours went by and there was no sign of Dad. Mom was perched on the upper perch and the chicks were looking up at her and food begging. Finally after hours of this, she took off to get food…and my anxiety increased. But finally the male arrived with a fish, which caused a bit of a fight. These chicks are all self feeding now so he needs to get THREE fish! Mom was still gone and I decided to move on….this weather wears me out and I had many other nests to check. But all is well there. Whew! We are seeing many adults that are gone a lot, and I believe it’s a result of difficult fishing. The heat increases algae and lily pads making it hard to see fish, and fish go deeper. Anyway I visited many other nests that had fledged….and I was able to locate all chicks on those nests. Then I did stop at the single females nest….boy that chick is a real beauty. And mom and daughter had full crops….tho I did not see that new male, so we don’t think he is around. But it still knocks my sox off to see what this single parent has achieved, again.

I made it home early, for me….2:30 and laid down and fell asleep for several hours.

Today’s photos show all three chicks at the nest with all the misadventures yesterday….shooting into the sun is difficult, but those are all chicks….

And then just a portrait of the single mom’s chick….

Trials and tribulations….

 Another 12 hour day in the field. I left home at 5:45 to check a bunch of nests for fledging before it got too hot. That was the plan anyway. I had heard from one of the monitors that her nest had a chick doing a lot of flapping and getting some loft. I know that usually means they might fledge in a day or two. She was unable to revisit today, so I went to check on those chicks. I stopped at a few other nests along the way.

When I got there, three chicks were still there….two in the nest and one on the horizontal perch. I wondered if he flew out there or inched his way out. After watching for a while he started inching his way back towards the nest, so that answered that! while I was watching him tho, another chick jumped up and flew off! It was 8:15. I watched him carefully as he flew loops around the area….flapping too much as they often do at first. He gained a lot of altitude and it seemed like he could not figure out how to lower himself to land on the nest…..so he flew higher and higher and further off until I lost him behind some trees…..and then suddenly another chick jumped and started flying loops. This one seemed headed towards the dead branch in some trees where Dad likes to perch. But he could not stick his landing on the dead branch so he landed right in a bunch of leafed out branches…sort of spread eagle. He flapped a lot to stabilize himself and he looked awkward there….and he finally got going again and flew back around those trees and I lost him. I kept waiting for him to reappear. In fact I waited, watched, listened for three hours and neither of the fledglings reappeared. The single remaining chick and mom were on the nest.

I had a bunch of other nests to check so I decided to swing past a lot of them and then return….hoping they would find their way back home by then. So I did that….discovered other nests fledged and a chick missing at one of them. I searched for a while there….and finally decided after a few hours to head back to the nest with two missing chicks. I drove back and as I came around the corner was dismayed that the nest still was occupied by one chick and mom.

I watched some more….and as they hollered for food, I kept thinking that I could hear an occasional peep from an osprey that was coming from a different direction. After all these years, I am very attuned to the sound of ospreys and their voices rise above all other noise. I walked around looking and listening….occasionally hearing the definite sound of an osprey. I am pretty good at triangulating on where it’s coming from and it didn’t sound like it was on the ground….it sounded high. Some hikers walked past and I asked if they heard that peeping and they said no. Really? You cant hear that? I walked towards a pine tree and heard the sound of flapping wings. Oh dear he is here somewhere but I couldn’t see him in this dense tree.

I went to the park office and explained the issue and asked if I could park on that service road while I searched, and asked if they had anyone to help me. They did send one of the park managers to meet me. I finally walked right in under the pine tree and looked straight up and there he was….laying so still, we wondered if he was still alive. But he did move. We took photos…it was still hard to decipher how he was stuck in there all day.

So they called The Raptor Center to see if they had a climber. While we were waiting for TRC to consult with their staff, they others went back to their business and I waited near the nest and the tree….watching listening. Then I got a text that TRC needed more info…..and as I was answering that I heard a commotion of whining, desperate juvenile food begging and a chick came flying towards the nest! I watched it try to land near mom but ended up sort of on her back so she started chasing him…it was seen as an aggressive behavior instead of a chick that could not control his landings.

I ran back to the tree to see if it was that chick….and there was no longer a chick in the pine tree. So he had finally rescued himself. He got back to the nest and kept hollering desperately for food….so hunger was probably the motivating factor that allowed him to get himself out of that mess. And Dad heard the orders and took off for some dinner.

The other chick did not return.

But the chick that stayed home all day was doing a fair amount of flapping, cause it looked like fun to her! So I guess I have to go back tomorrow and check on them and see if the third chick found his way home. It’s beastly hot here this weekend and I was hoping to take a day or two off….but I guess not during fledging season!

I will recheck them and look for the other missing chick down the road, and then return to another nest quite a ways away that had two hopping and flapping chicks yesterday….I know they will fly soon.

None of these nests are anywhere near where I live….so a lot of miles and a lot of time. But I care about each of these beautiful chicks, and if I can be there to help if it’s needed, I will. And if I can’t help, I can learn and I can document . I have seen so many ways they get in trouble. But at least today we had one happy ending….and I am hoping the other chick may be allright too. Photos below of some of today’s misadventures.

An important fledge!

 So much has happened this week….I think I will start with today tho…..SO much fledging going on. I went to check on the single mom and her chick yesterday. It’s a female chick and she has been laying low a lot , but yesterday while I was talking to someone she got up and hovered above the nest!!!! Mom came flying back to the nest and the chick settled down. So I headed straight over there this morning and yes our little darling fledged…..flying some beautiful loops, solid landings, always returning to the nest. Mom was perched outside the nest to give her plenty of room for takes offs and landings. So once again this amazing female has pulled off fledging a chick all alone. The sad part is that that magnificent male that I watched bring a huge fish, and hang out on the nest the entire time mom was feeding the chick….has not returned. I have been there several times and so has the monitor, Vicky, and we have not seen him. I will keep hoping for her to attract a great mate who will take good care of her in the future. Maybe that gentleman has his foot in the door….

Meanwhile, this chick has made it to an important milestone and I am gonna celebrate tonight!