Oh my….

 I have so many stories I could tell….Here is one. Țoday I was headed to my pottery class….so I stopped at a nest on my way. Both ospreys there, male working hard on the nest,  bringing sticks, moving them around . On the way home I thought I will just pop in again quickly…female was there, but I didn’t see the male. As I was sitting at the stoplight nearby,  I see an osprey fly over my head heading south….I thought, oh that must be the male going for some dinner….I kept watching, wondering why he wasn’t  veering off towards the usual fishing spot. He just kept going south, and I kept watching. When the light turned green I zoomed down the road, following him….and he went to a nearby cell tower. I found a parking spot and put up the scope….its the banded male from the nest I was just at, copulating with another female! There is no nest there. I suspect this stuff happens far more than most realize, and I have caught many males in the act. Since he is banded it’s provable. So now, what will he do? Will he build a nest there too? Or will he ignore her except to spread his DNA? Will she give up and leave. The plot thickens. Sadly, he did this last year as well, but the other nest failed when that female decided she could not incubate alone and she gave up. Ironically, the female that we now see as his “wife” , began as his mistress last year! But they successfully raised two chicks! In fact, for the long time readers, last fall I was continually  posting photos of the last remaining chick that I knew of….and that was his offspring. He was a good dad at this nest. But now he has found a new female at a new site. These behaviors are quite common, but it goes undocumented. I notice everything tho…so there I am chasing this guy down, wondering, where is he going if he isnt heading to his usual fishing hole? My curiosity never ends, even after 33 years. So much drama eh? I have another complicated story of a female in a challenging situation to share with you soon. I am also working on a post about the Arboretum Nest. Osprey behaviors are so interesting. Stay tuned!

17 nests in the rain….

 I visited 17 nests on this rainy, gray, cool day. Sometimes these days are good for getting info….I read three bands. Ialso sadly discovered that at a school in the metro, who had a nest on their ballfield lights last year, they had erected a tall Nestpole for the ospreys….but, in spite of my emails, and their communicatons with state agencies, they build a nestbox that is potentially dangerous to the chicks. It has a solid wood bottom….with no drainage. Sigh. It’s so frustrating to try to help and have the offers ignored and mistakes made unnecessarily. And yet, down the road is a huge nest on ballfield lights that has remained in place for many years. I am grateful for that schools respect for these birds.

I was very happy to see the three banded males I know today….tho one had his nest removed from a cell tower and the tower altered. It did not take me long to find him, at the next cell tower down the road. Hope they can make it work there!

I did find two females who seemed to be incubating already….it seems early so I watched for over 20 minutes to see if they would get up, as if they were just testing the nest for comfort, but they remained low in the nest. Maybe!?!

Take a look at the pair of ospreys on the nest in the photo ….which one is the male? Ha ha. I argued with some folks last year who claimed that males have white breasts….and it just isnt always true. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the two apart…..tho males still have skinnier legs and shorter beaks. I also have seen a female this year with a very white breast…..I have yet to get a good photo of her. So as the genetic pool gets mixed up, there are some variations in markings. Just to keep us guessing!

It’s good to be home and out of the rain.

31 nests!

 I visited 31 nests today! Many were occupied by a pair….a few had just a single osprey but the partner may have been out fishing, and a few were empty. It’s got me scratching my head…..but time will tell. Sadly our oldest male did not return and I feel a very real sadness about that. He would have been 21 this year. I did get some nice photos of him last year that I will treasure. Most ospreys seem to be in the recovery mode….just laying low. Not much copulating, some nest work going on. I still have some bands to read tho I did get a couple identified. But still so many nests to get to for the first time…and now they are calling for a rainy weekend….NOOOOOO! It is distressing how many nests were removed this winter….but some huge nests have been left untouched and I am grateful for that!

Arboretum

 We seem to have a pair at the Arboretum and I have been trying to compare their markings to last years pair. The female seems to be a new one to me…..the male I am not as sure about. I will keep watching and comparing markings as time permits.

Happy Easter…

 After a very long day in the field I sit here staring at this page….how do I get it all in one post? Well I can’t…..so I won’t. For starters I finally got a new used car, so am more comfortable putting on the miles to check more nests. So I headed out early this morning….a beautiful Easter morning in a lovely park, with only one other human being seen. But I did see a male osprey back on his nest! It was a spectacular sight, so quiet. Sometimes I feel so lucky to be right where I am, seeing what I see, experiencing what I experience. But there was no female yet at this nest. It’s early tho. Then on to other nests….many of them empty, about four that had a pair! One of those nests should have had two banded ospreys….but only the male was banded. The older banded female was nowhere to be seen and he was bringing fish to this new unbanded female. There is still time for the older female to show up. It can take me a long time to just figure out if they are banded…lots of patience. Can’t blink or I will miss it! I visited 17 nests….four had pairs, one had a single osprey. One of those nests has quite a story so I will post that soon in a separate post. Enjoy the crummy photos….a windy day, hard to get a sharp shot sometimes holding my I phone up to the scope. I did mostly like the newish car…..but holy crap, I have to go to school to learn it all. The tech issues….what is that button for? Why is it beeping? How do I turn that off? I am so old school.

Back together again!

Pictures were challenging today, but our older male is not alone anymore….his long time mate showed up one day after he arrived and I was able to read her band today. I was overjoyed that they are both alive to make some more beautiful chicks together! They are so comfortable together...their instant ease is palpable.

I work very hard to compile all the data in to reports that I can look back thru for info…and it’s so grueling to do, but I am so happy to have the information I need at my fingertips! So I looked back at the histories of these two. They have been together for 10 years now and have produced 23 chicks. The female was on this nest one year prior to when the current male joined her. They both had nested successfully previously, and didnt get together until they were nine years old! But it’s a match made in heaven. They have been successful every year.

This male had nested at another nest not too far away prior to that but in 2015 his nest blew down in a storm killing both chicks and possibly injuring that female. That may be what precipitated his move in 2016. I believe his female didn’t return.

The female was a floater seen at another nest in 2014, and she moved to this nest in 2015. She was quite old to be breeding for the first time, 8 years old, in 2015. Perhaps she nested previously somewhere we didn’t know about. At any rate, once they found each other, they have been deeply bonded and they work together like clockwork. So much fun to watch. They are both 19 years old this year. We hope they will be successful again this year, and for some years to come as well.

He’s back!!!!,

 The older banded male who I was expecting to be the first osprey back showed up today! Woo hoo! I was so excited I was shaking as I took some photos. He will be 19 yrs old this year. He looks great and went out and caught a huge northern while I was there. Just fun to hang out with him. Then I visited some other nests and found many empty, but found a pair on one nest and a single male on another. I got a report of another pair on the other side of town…..so here we go! Start your cars….i hope to get a new used one soon so I can really start putting on the miles.