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 What do you think I am doing? 

The end....2020

 October 1.....I guess it’s time to declare that the 2020 Osprey breeding season has come to an end. My sighting of the adult male, alone, on Tuesday was the last Osprey I have seen. I have visited his nest three times in the past two days and no ospreys were seen. Wish I had gotten a photo of that handsome male on that last day, but the image is firmly imprinted in my mind.

Now my efforts turn to other Osprey related activities. I met with a power company and a city public works superintendent today to try to find a way to relocate a pair of ospreys that nested in a difficult situation this year. I am hopeful that we will find a good solution for them. I also picked up a beautiful nestbox that was donated by Jamie Dolginow Kittleson! We are SO grateful, so appreciative of this generous act. We will put it to good use somewhere!

I will soon begin the increasingly overwhelming task of gathering all the data that was collected by myself and all the volunteer monitors, organizing it, analyzing it and of course, eventually, posting it here for you all to read. It often takes me the better part of a month to get all that done. It’s a lot of work, but it is very satisfying to have it all organized and at my fingertips when needed. There was a time when I could remember it all, but now with so many nests, I can’t!!!

I hope to have that all done by the end of the year. Since I am still furloughed from my job, I will get a much earlier start on it this year than in the past.

Please send out some special good thoughts for our traveling friends.....may each and every one of them arrive safely on their wintering grounds, maybe send a few postcards? We will hold our breath a little bit until we see them again next spring!

One Osprey....

 I am hanging on till the bitter end...and so is one osprey. I have checked nests the past three days....focusing on the ones with late fledging chicks. I came upon some sad sights....I stumbled across a nest I didn’t know about (PLEASE report new nests to me!) and it had a dead adult Osprey hanging near the nest. I have no idea what happened. I could not see a head, and that always makes me suspect Great Horned Owl predation...but I just don’t know. Yesterday I visited the second to last nest to fledge and the one chick who had been there, constantly food begging was gone. The nest was empty except for the sad remains of one of her siblings who died just before fledging. Again, I dont know why. It was right after a big storm went thru in mid August. Hail? There was something so poignant about that empty nest, with the still visible fluttering juvenile feathers on the edge of the nest, left behind. Today I drove past that nest again and was surprised to see the Dad of those chicks, perched nearby, looking in all directions. No food begging heard, so I think he may be the last Osprey! I also checked the last nest to fledge.....empty, no ospreys seen or heard nearby. It was good to see that final adult.....it’s always a Dad, waiting around, in case. This fellow is a first time Dad, and earlier in the season I didn’t think he was such a great Dad....yes, Mom had to leave and get a fish as he sat nearby eating and his three chicks hollered for food. But his devoted care for that lingering female chick, and his noble posture today, gazing all around, has made my evaluation improve dramatically. He done good. I was so happy to see him. Winds shift again tomorrow, and the north wind may be his ticket to South America. You know I will check!

September 26....still here!

 September 26.....and we still have a few ospreys around. On Thursday I watched a chick at the second to last nest to fledge....she was eating a fish and as soon as she swallowed that final tail bite, she started food begging and in less than 2 minutes, Dad dropped another fish and she kept eating!!!! Ha ha, non stop eating at that nest!

I checked her again today and she is still here, food begging but I did not get to see Dad. Today I also drove up to check the very last nest to fledge in late August. On the way, I drove past a lake and saw an osprey perched in a dead tree eating a fish. I was on a busy hiway so couldn’t stop....so I proceeded to that nest I was headed to. I found the chick sitting quietly on that nest. Her siblings have both dispersed / disappeared. I wondered if it was her Dad that I drove past, so I went back and searched for a place to be able to view the Osprey. I pulled over on the side of the hiway and could see it was a juvenile! I knew I couldn’t stay there long before the police would tell me to move so I started searching for another place to observe. I found a small dead end road with some houses. I was acting suspicious, as I usually do, trying to see thru the trees and homes and a sweet young boy named Ivan came up on his bike and asked if I needed help. I explained what I was trying to do and he said I could park there because he knew the guy who lived there. Ivan left and came back shortly with a tomato for me! I found a hole thru the trees where I could see this bird quite well. A young female with a silver band. I was even able to read her band and know where she is from. She caught two bullheads as I watched! Ivan and I chatted about ospreys and I took some photos by holding my iPad up against my scope. Ivan asked why I didn t use my phone....cause I dont have a smart phone! Within a few minutes Ivan came back with a phone for me! He said he gets used phones and fixes them up to give away. He said it was unlocked and ready for me to set it up! He also gave me some more tomatoes! Then I proceeded to another nest where I found another chick sitting quietly, waiting for food to be delivered. 
What an interesting day! So good to see four chicks still here, and to see this young female successfully, and quickly, catching her own fish. Even these late fledges have now had a month of being fed by their dad and at least some have developed the needed skills to survive on their own. These Dads have done a great job. And meeting Ivan was a little added delight! Many thanks to Ivan, if he reads this, for his kindness and generosity!!!!
Winds are expected to shift on Monday and become quite strong from the north....so these may be my last visits with my friends. I will check a nest on the opposite side of town tomorrow. Oh how difficult this transition will be this year.

Update and plea

 

Just a little update. Over the weekend I visited a handful of the nests with the late fledging chicks and saw one chick and some Dads on four nests. I spent over 90 minutes at the nest where I witnessed the chick catch a fish last week....and she was still working on her fishing skills. Perched in a dead tree over the water, rubber necking, staring into the water and she made one dive, tho it was unsuccessful and she came up empty. . It’s such a treat to watch her or him. She has light spots on her breast so it actually could be either sex. I did not see her Dad. He is a first time parent so may be lacking some of those super parental skills! This morning I returned to check two nests near each other and I was lucky to not only see the remaining chick, I saw both Dads deliver a fish! One chick continued to food beg for a good five minutes after the fish delivery, with a fish in her grip! I guess the food begging machine is hard to turn off! Made me laugh out loud! Each moment with them is treasured. I am sticking with the notion that I am collecting data.....but I am really just a junkie getting a fix. 
I also spent some time this weekend with one of the volunteer monitors, Barb, hiking out to a nest that fell apart mid season, causing eggs to be lost. We are trying to figure out how to fix this nestpole. The pole itself looks good...and the support arms also look good, but it was built poorly many years ago and had no actual nest box.....just a circle of wood set up there, which rotted away. This is a call for help and ideas.....the site is inaccessible with a truck. I believe the pole is about 30 feet tall, (not certain tho) and we wondered if a tall ladder might get us up there to just add a nestbox on top of the arms, bolt it in place and add some sticks. We would need a box, some strong folks to help us carry a rented ladder out there, and some one to climb up and bolt it in place. Thoughts? Volunteers? Photos below....

And another huge thanks to Barbara Pierson and Paul Patton for their ongoing financial support which means more than words can express. These donations not only pay for gas for checking nests, but also allow for some repairs to old poles to be done. A million thanks!

She caught a fish!

 I revisited some of the nests where I saw chicks and their dads last Sunday....and with the strong north  wind that blew across Minnesota today , I think we have lost some of our friends. I did see a few lonely dads, sitting near their nest, snoozing....no food begging heard at all. I am always so touched by the way they stick around until no one is asking for food. In recent weeks, they have been unable to remain near the nest for long because of the incessant hollering! That behavior is called hyperphagia....when the chicks are SO hungry and eat so much more than they need, as an instinctual preparation for the trip ahead of them. But when the chicks begin to disperse, things get very quiet. I love to see these males, waiting, in case someone appears that needs food. Silently preparing for their own long journey. I watched a few of them closely for far too long today. So many nests were empty today , even those that held several chicks on Sunday. I made my way to one final nest where I had grown particularly attached to the single female chick. This nest had gone thru some upheaval when the regular male was killed last year, so a new one stepped  up to fill the vacancy.  He was a male that had been goofing around in that area for several years, never raising chicks tho. This was his year. It took  a little time for a pair bond to form, for that female to accept him, so the eggs were laid a little later than some other nests and only one chick hatched. It seemed to take her a long time to fledge. I had some concerns, but I know chicks are like little kids....some walk at a very young age and some just take a little longer. Doesn’t mean that anything is wrong. Well we had a particularly bad storm go thru in mid August and that night as I watched tornado and hail warnings, my thoughts were with the unfledged chicks. I zoomed out to this nest first thing in the morning.....no chick. I felt sick. But I waited, talked to some neighbors, and then suddenly a bird landed on the nest and it was the chick!!!! So happy to see that she was alright and had fledged....maybe because she had to! So I have watched her quite a bit in recent weeks.....and today when I arrived the nest was empty. All the favorite perches were empty. Sigh. I sat in the car answering emails for a while and then suddenly I heard an osprey! I could not see it at first, but it eventually came flying in from behind some trees and splashed right into the water in front of me. I grabbed my binoculars to see if this was a chick or adult. The bird got lift off out of the water and banked so I could see the feathers on the back.....yes! It was the chick! And she zoomed around and landed back on the nest....WITH A FISH! I almost cried. Many juveniles may never catch a fish until they begin their migration.....tho some do. It’s just not that often that I get to see it. I see them practicing their water starts, dragging their feet thru the water, but actually catching a fish right in front of me just doesn’t happen that often. I was thrilled! And also a little sad. She is ready to go, to start her great journey. I may never know what happens to her,  because of the lack of banding (very frustrating to me)  but I send each one off with instructions to be very careful, and to please return to those of us who will be waiting. 

I will keep checking a few nests in the coming days....but I can feel the end of Osprey season looming. I will really miss them this year. 

Still here!

 I was pleasantly surprised by how many Ospreys I found over the weekend! Quite a few young ones, and a few adult males....but it is amazing how hard it is to find those Dads. I know they are around or those chicks wouldn’t be hanging around food begging. But they do keep their distance. I remember a few years ago I spotted an Osprey fishing in a very small pond near my house. He got one and went to a tree to eat and I saw that he was banded. I read his band and learned that he was about 9 miles from his nest, where two loud chicks were hanging around demanding fish! Why would he be so far from the nest, and he had passed by many lakes that contained fish to get to this small pond. These males also need to prepare for the big trip ahead. I think they fly about to build some strength and perhaps, primarily, to be able to eat a fish in peace, the WHOLE fish without some one begging for it! I saw him there for several days in a row, but also caught him at his nest supplying the food the kids were demanding. So when I have trouble locating a Dad at a nest, I think of that male. They are around, but can be hard to locate. I did see several males yesterday and was able to find one chick because of her endless food begging, while perching right next to her Dad in a tree. 

The weather has been so nice, finally....not too hot, dew points low and suddenly it’s damn pleasant to be out there watching these birds. I am savoring as much time as I can with them......finally allowing myself to just hang out and watch and listen....instead of rushing off to the next nest. I sometimes wonder when some chicks have disappeared but a few are left at a nest, hanging out till the very end of the season....are these chicks the ones that we have to worry about....seemingly unable to feed themselves? Or are these the survivors....the ones who spent more time packing on those extra calories, watching Dad fish, building some skills. With a mortality rate in the first year of 50-70% according to some scientists, I have come to suspect that the ones who disappeared early are the ones who probably didnt make it. The more time they spend with their parents, the better. 
When I pulled up to one nest today, I just started laughing out loud....tho she had a semi empty crop, her belly was very fat! But this will serve her well on the trip ahead. 
I have seen some interesting dramas also.....there seem to be a lot of Bald Eagles around these days, and it amazes me when a young chick gives that distinct bald eagle alarm call and flies towards the eagles to defend this territory. This usually attracts the Dad also, if he is in the area, and seeing these young ones muster the courage to stand up to an eagle is inspiring. Just like an adult! Again, I think to myself, this is a tough chick who might be one of the survivors. During every day in the field, I always say my goodbyes.....not knowing if I will see them again....stay safe, be super careful, please find your way back to Minnesota to grace our skies again. To those banded ones I say, April 1, I hope to see you safely return to your nest. I will be waiting for you! 
I treasure every day I get to spend some time with them...and the predictions call for more northerly winds on Wednesday. Will that be the end? I hope not. In this troubled world, I fear that when the last Osprey flies south, my sanity may go with them! I know my love will.....

Changes coming....

The weather predictions are calling for a switch in the wind direction tomorrow, Thursday, Sept 3....with strong winds coming from the north. This may be a day that we lose some of our ospreys. I visited a bunch of nests today and was happy and relieved to find a few missing chicks. There was one chick that I had not seen for several weeks, since it fledged successfully, and I was getting very worried that something terrible had happened, but today I found her perching in her Dads favorite perch! It was fun to watch her in the golden sun, at the top of a tree. She was a bit of a late hatch so maybe she will stick around a bit longer. 

On another nest I saw an adult male on the nest with a fish, looking around. It was so quiet. He waited for quite a while and no one came to claim the fish, so he went to one of his favorite perches and ate about half the fish.....and then I heard, far off in the distance, that endearing whiny sound of a hungry juvenile Osprey. She came to the nest, and he let her cry for a little while before he delivered the remaining half of the fish to her. 

On yet another nest,  the chick has also been scarce, which has caused me to worry. I have seen so little of this one right after fledging. However,  I have always seen Dear old Dad in the area, waiting, watching, eating. This male is so dependable.

Today I finally saw them together....chick on the nest food begging and Dad perched on a nearby cell tower preening. Eventually he headed off towards the lake to get the youngster a fish. 

I love these males and how they stick around after the females are long gone....such great parents they are. Some of these are banded males that I have been watching for many years and this time of year, I wonder if I will ever see them again. It’s really quite a wistful feeling. I love to just sit and watch them carefully. What are they looking at, responding to....I notice their markings, their coloring, their crop, how they close one eye to rest half of their brain, while the other half remains alert. I can still be so captivated by an Osprey, just sitting there, doing nothing. 

Some nests are empty now.....but I was pleasantly surprised by how many ospreys I did see today....ones that I needed to see before they depart. 

The ospreys have kept me sane thru this pandemic, and I am fearing their absence like never before...they kept me focused, active, sometimes exhausted and worried. I am not sure what I will do without them....my place of employment still closed, art fairs all cancelled. But I will keep checking nests until I am unable to find any ospreys. Ospreys have always been a source of healing for me. I treasure each day that I get to spend with them and share their magic. 

Last chick fledged!

 Another long day in the field....a lovely day actually, after so many hot, muggy uncomfortable days. Dewpoint finally dropped, as did the temp. I am happy to report that the last chick to fledge in the metro area has done so successfully! The one who was jumping and flapping last weekend, is now flying quite well, tho when I first arrived she was perched right where I left her a week ago....and I thought, oh oh, is something wrong with this chick? Then off she went....and I totally lost her! I moved to a spot further away where I could see a more expansive view of the area, and I saw two ospreys flying quite high above the nest. I watched until they both returned to the nest, and I went zooming back to my closer view and could see it was two juveniles. So there she was with her sibling. There was a third chick too on this nest, but I have not seen that one for two weeks. I cant always account for them all post fledge, but I will keep trying. I saw no adult females today, but a few adult males were perching around. I observed a few very loud chicks jockeying for position on a nest, to be the first one to get a shot at the next fish delivery! Some nests were empty too. Keep your eyes on the winds....this time of year the ospreys could take off any day, but they usually wait for a day with some strong winds from the north to make their travels quick and effortless. As long as winds are from the south, we are unlikely to lose them. 

People often ask me how to tell the difference between and chicks and adults at this time of year .....since the chicks are adult size. Here is a great pair of photos from Ann Merritt that shows the different plummage...juveniles have a light Buffy colored tip on the edge of every dark feather on their backs, giving them a scalloped appearance (to serve as camouflage in the nest)....these light tips will fade as the edges wear away and some of our older chicks are starting to lose the dramatic contrast, but if you look closely, this may help you identify the young ones. They also have a different eye color.....rusty read when they are quite young, but these days they are lightening to a pumpkin orange to a rosy gold color. The adults have bright yellow eyes. I know that many of you know this, but because it’s a question I am asked so often, I thought I would share these photos!

Always interesting!

 Oh the behaviors get so interesting this time of year! Let me share a few stories....I was visiting one nest several weeks ago that had three chicks. They had just fledged and I was trying to locate  them all to be sure that each one fledged successfully. I spotted one in a tree, one was in the nest, but all my searching could not scare up that third chick. The female arrived with a fish and went to the nest where the one youngster was desperately food begging. She then took off carrying the fish and flew several loops around the little lake near the nest. The chick in the tree showed no interest but when the female headed back to the nest she was followed by the third whining juvenile! She dropped the fish in the nest for those two chicks to fight over and went back and perched near the chick in the tree. I love  the way they keep track of their young ones in those early days, and sometimes literally round them up. I saw a male do a similar thing a few days ago. One chick was on the nest food begging so he landed and started feeding that chick....after a few bites he left with the fish. I thought, oh no, that chick is still hungry! And he disappeared, was gone for about five minutes and then came back to the nest with the fish, followed by the missing chick. He left the fish for them to fight over. They have invested many months in producing these offspring, so they usually do not want to leave them hungry.....tho they are always hungry it seems! They eat far more than is actually necessary to keep them alive, and they can build up a thick layer of fat which will serve to help get them to their wintering grounds, even if they fail to catch a fish on their own. Their instincts tell them, eat more! I had to laugh out loud when I watched a male hovering over his nest, with three chicks in it, as he just dropped the fish from above rather than land in the midst of those hungry chicks! 

Some of our adult females have already begun their migration and I am seeing few of them during my nest checks. I believe that those females lose a lot of muscle mass during their days on the nest, incubating, sheltering and feeding the chicks. They need some time on their own to eat the whole fish, fly about a bit to rebuild that muscle and prepare for migration, so sometimes I find them missing for many days and then she might pop up again to check in before departing. Some females have been gone for a while now, but a few remain, hanging out with the chicks, watching over them. They all seem to be specially hardwired to leave at a certain time....some early, and some late, but I dont think it’s necessarily tied to the ages of their chicks.

I am working at confirming that chicks fledged successfully....some that were missing, have been found. Yesterday, as I finally spotted one of the chicks I had been unable to find during several visits, I had my breath taken away by how beautiful he was....white breast shining so bright in the afternoon sun, his eyes still glowing that pumpkin orange....no longer the rusty red of a young bird, but not yellow yet either. What a beauty! 

 There was one chick that had gotten himself into some trouble on a cell tower. This cell tower had two levels to it, and he had fallen down into the lower level, just slightly below the nest. There were too many metal bars for him to put his wings out and fly back up to the nest. I watched and worried and wondered what to do. It’s difficult to get permits to go up and rescue a chick and so I left the chick there, and went home, feeling absolutely sick about it. But I have seen a chick in a similar circumstance get himself out of this trouble in the past. I went back a few days later  and was scanning every inch of that tower looking for a body, some feathers fluttering, and as I moved my car around, looking at every possible angle, I suddenly looked up at the nest, and there was the chick!!!!!! Woo Hoo! So he managed to walk out between the bars and take a leap of faith and put his wings out and get himself out of what was a bit like a cage. I have seen these young ones get into so many different predicaments, it’s such a relief when they have the smarts to free themselves. 

I know our days with these magnificent birds are numbered now.....tho some of the late fledges may be around for a few more weeks. Now we just savor each and every visit where we can find some ospreys. I visited 26 nests yesterday and 12 were empty with no ospreys seen or heard. But on other nests I enjoyed the desperate whining of hungry juveniles! I watched a pair of adults that built a new nest this year, but laid no eggs, as they perched together in a dead tree, enjoying their final days together. The season seems to go so fast and we work so hard to gather all the data we can (there are a few loose ends still to figure out!) ....now I hang on to these precious remaining days with the ospreys. 

So busy.....

 I have been a lousy author on this page lately.....I am just so busy this year, doing the field work while I can, and trying to keep up correspondence with volunteers, people reporting sightings and nests, answering questions. We still have chicks that have not fledged so I am still checking on them, trying to confirm successful fledging! As many of you know, we had a weird, long beginning to the breeding season with prolonged north winds that slowed down the spring migration for some ospreys, and that led to some very late hatches...which of course results in late fledging! 

 When a juvenile finally takes that first flight, when they are physiologically ready, they usually fly a short loop and land back on the nest. The next flight will be a little longer. Eventually they try to land some place other than the nest! But ospreys are not  like songbirds that just fly away, never to be seen at the nest again. Young ospreys remain dependent upon their parents for food for weeks after fledging. They will slowly disperse and expand their explorations further and further from the nest. They will slowly build the skills they need to survive. They will practice their water starts.....plunging into the water and getting lift off out of the water, over and over, before they actually try to catch a fish. So if a chick is seen displaying prefledge behavior, jumping and flapping their wings, and then is suddenly gone, never returning to the nest, it was probably not a successful fledge. We have a nest like that this year and I have been back seven times in the last 3 weeks and have never seen the chick OR the adults! They are just gone. Adults will stick around to feed chicks on the nest for weeks, so If they are gone, they likely have no offspring to care for. So I spend a lot of time checking on chicks, watching their flights, locating them perching near their nest, seeing them returning to the nest hollering for food before I call a nest successful. All this takes a lot of my time (and the volunteer monitors time!) AND we are still finding new nests!!!! We have found 17 new nests this year! Many people believe that ospreys only court and build nests in the spring, but that isn’t true. Young ospreys usually stay on their wintering grounds until they are 2-3 years old. When they are old enough to breed they are drawn back to their fledging  neighborhoods to look for a mate and a territory of their own. Sometimes this can take a whole summer! Many of these young birds don’t get back here early in the spring but may arrive in the early to mid summer. It is not uncommon to find them engaging in courtship behaviors and building nests in July and August. I have found three new nests like that this week!!!! 

So I am still doing a lot of investigating, searching for chicks, listening for vocalizations that give me clues....food begging, courtship songs. And I always have lingering questions in my head that I am seeking answers to. Outcomes. Bands to confirm. Even revisiting failed nests to see if those adults are around at all. I know my days are numbered now, so the pedal is to the metal to try to gather the data we need to draw accurate conclusions. I will have some more behavioral stories soon! 

And for those who are interested in the Arboretum cam chicks, I have seen both of them returning to the nest to eat! All is well! 

Update on yesterday’s update!

Update on yesterday’s post....this morning I went back to the nest where the chick was missing, and he was still not in the nest. The female was still seen flying around carrying a fish. I drove every little road, looking and listening. I could not find the chick, or hear any of the typical juvenile vocalizations. I felt kind of nauseous. So I sadly went to try to read that band on the new nest I found last week. Last year at this time, I had seen a banded male hanging out on a cell tower 1.5 miles away from where I found this new nest, so I suspected it would be him. I spent 7 hours there last Saturday and could not get his band. Yes, SEVEN hours. Today he finally came and perched in a place where I could actually see his legs! It still was a long ways away and required hiking and jockeying around to different sides to confirm the band. But it was that male, as my instincts told me. Then as I sat in the car I thought, I just have to go back and look for that missing chick one more time. A fairly long drive, but when I got there I found the chick FINALLY back in the nest eating a fish with gusto! Hungry chick! And Mom was finally perched calmly nearby.....finally relaxed. A huge Whew! Of course it doesn’t always turn out this way, but it sure is a good feeling when it does. So, tonight there is no one to worry about....we will see what tomorrow brings!

Photo below is just a magnificent look at the wingspan of those young ospreys, for your viewing pleasure....taken by Ann Merritt

Updates

A few updates and comments. I am busier than ever in the field. We are STILL finding new nests and nest attempts. I have to tease out whether these are frustration nests or new nests. Thank goodness the one I checked yesterday had a banded bird, making it easier to track the history and the movement and conclude it’s a frustration nest. But I also found a new nest with chicks in it! And a banded male that is making it very hard to read his band! He is either surrounded by a sea of chicks fighting for the fish, or he is gone fishing!

i am also doing a lot of searching for fledged chicks to be sure they fledged successfully! Flying away and never being seen again, is not a successful fledge! Got a distraught email from a volunteer about not being able to locate the chick from a nest where we did a rescue.....the little guy whose legs were found dangling from a hole in the nest. We have become very attached to him. I searched all over and could not see or hear anything, just as the volunteer did. My heart sank. But as a last resort, I widened my search, and tried driving around some outlying areas and found a gate that said no trespassing, no admittance.....and I parked right there because I saw something white in the trees beyond.....put up the scope, and bingo....there he was, our missing juvenile, beautiful, regal. Woo hoo. He was actually not that far from his nest, but just in a spot that was not visible from our usual monitoring area.

Yesterday I came upon a nest with the single chick missing. Probably fledged. I searched to no avail. I found the male perched nearby, and the female was flying around carrying a fish. I knew she was either trying to locate the chick, or she knew where the chick was and was trying to get him back to the nest to feed him. Sometimes due to lots of private property, I can’t search as freely as I would like. I failed to find him, but will return today.

Also the second chick at the Arboretum Cam nest has fledged.

We are also in talks with some private property owners to make an unused nestpole more attractive to ospreys.

Doing what we can to help the ospreys!

Good news, bad news

As many of you realize the Arboretum Osprey Cam is down again. So I stopped at that nest today since I knew that fledging day was upon us. When I arrived I saw what was in the photo below.....one chick on the nest perch! Hmmmmm. I assumed that meant the chick had fledged....but I waited a while to confirm that supposition. Yes! Off he went on a short loop and returned to the perch and made a slightly awkward landing, but none the less a successful landing! This is day 54 for one of these chicks, and I suspect the other chick will takes its first flight soon. I will keep you posted! A milestone for this chick and this nest. In my research, if one chick is known to have fledged successfully, the nest is considered to be successful.

Rescue

It’s been a busy few days....dealing with unexpected situations. Maybe you will find it interesting....

Monday morning I got a message from someone who lives in the UK, but is active on my page....Hazel. She saw a post on the page that Tiger Mozone runs from a man in Minnesota asking what to do about chicks that blew out of a nest that he erected during a storm. She suggested that I contact him. He posted his phone number asking for help so I called him. I was already way out in a western county to check nests so I suggested that he pick up the chicks, put them in a box and get them to The Raptor Center to be sure they were OK. There were several phone calls with him, and several suggestions made about how to get the chicks back in the nest. I kept checking nests and came upon a nest with two live chicks and one dead one, and no adults anywhere. I waited for three hours. Every time an Osprey flew over they food begged loudly. No ospreys stopped. I started to suspect these chicks were in trouble and started making phone calls regarding a rescue for these chicks. Sadly, in this state, there aren’t many options other than letting them die. After many hours, a male who was not the father circled around and then landed forcefully on a chicks back in a very aggressive manner. Then a female came flying in and chased him away. I was somewhat relieved to see an adult defend these chicks, but I suspect this is a single parent situation , with a female who has to leave to get food and is struggling to provide for her offspring. I am hoping for the best, but my phone calls did not result in a permit to move them to another nest. In the process of exploring options for that family, I talked with The Raptor Center and we had a great discussion about both situations, Osprey behaviors, and possible solutions. I was told that the chicks that had blown out of their nest in the storm were both in good shape. As the day went on, we had a few more emails and phone calls, and the next morning plans came together to renest those chicks. I agreed happily to help, so, although this nest was outside of my normal study area, I drove up and met the gentleman who put the nest up and rescued the chicks, and a volunteer from TRC and we got those two chicks back in their nest. They had been out of the nest for several days, so there was concern that the Adults parental instincts might have turned off. But we thought this was the best option. So the man who rescued them got a tall enough ladder to access the nest, and he went up as we placed the chicks in a bag and sent them up to their nest. We also left a lot of fish up there for them. It all went perfectly. As we pulled away in the pontoon boat, the Mom was back in her usual perch below the nest, looking up at her chicks! I stayed all afternoon to watch the behaviors, as I always learn. The chicks were eating those fish, and at 3:30 in the afternoon, the male finally came to the nest, walked around, and stole a fish, went to a nearby perch to eat. All is well! Woo hoo! Thanks to Ritchie Ronning, The rescuer, Terri Headley from TRC, and Gail Buhl at TRC who coordinated it all, and of course, Hazel who connected us at the start. I was so happy to be able to help. It’s such a wonderful feeling when a rescue goes this well! Here are some photos.

Arb Osprey cam

For those who are concerned about the Arboretum chicks after the storm knocked the cam out of position, I just checked them in person and they are fine.....mom was feeding them dinner. Hopefully the cam will be fixed soon.

Fledged!

Our first chick has fledged! Earlier this week I watched a chick on the nest where the earliest egg was laid and the first hatch occurred this year. The oldest chick was flapping furiously and getting some good loft, hovering a foot or two above the nest. Some people call this “helicoptering”. It is a thrill to observe! I stayed for a long time but she was just not ready to make the big leap quite yet. She was 54 days old. This morning I returned and was delighted to watch her flying loops and returning to the nest and sticking her landings perfectly. Her sibling was not quite ready to go yet.

She would have been 55 days old on Tuesday, perhaps the day she fledged. That is a good average age for a first flight tho there can be quite a bit of variability in fledge dates, but I often use 55 as a good guess for when a juvenile might take that first flight. Alan Poole says in his new book that fledging occurs between 50-60 days.

Some people think that parents do something to encourage fledging but it is really a physiological readiness that causes the first flight. So what is really happening? Let’s talk about feathers. As our little friends have grown, we have seen them move from a down covered fuzz ball, to having little pin feathers poking out all over their bodies. As those feathers grew, the shaft was full of blood, so they are called “blood feathers“. As they approach 50 days, the blood begins to recede from the shaft. The feather stiffens and is finally capable of sustaining flight. They also have spent significant time flapping those wings to build muscle strength. When I was working on the reintroduction, and we had a hack box full of chicks, I had to determine when the chicks were ready for flight. I became very familiar with the pre-fledging behaviors described above. I also noticed that they would begin trying to self feed at this time. We also examined each birds flight feathers, watching as the shaft turned from a bluish, dark color to a white, slightly transparent color.

This phase of watching our nests can be very exciting! As I made the rounds to many nests today, I was looking for those pre flight behaviors, and I saw one other chick that was getting some good loft and floating up in the air above it’s nest. I am sure there are others around the metro too. I also take a deep breath because this is a treacherous time for the juveniles. Not all first flights go well. We will watch over them as much as we can. May all our young ospreys fledge successfully this year!

HELP!

As many of you may already know, the government is trying to remove the protections for all migratory birds. This will profoundly affect our ospreys, as well as many other birds. If you are concerned about this huge step backwards please, please, please hit the link below, and voice your opinion.....and also write to your legislators.

https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-MB-2018-0090-8411&utm_source=Cornell+Lab+eNews&utm_campaign=bb24f41067-Cornell-Lab-eNews-July-2020&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_47588b5758-bb24f41067-277794361

Too hot...

For all the readers in Minnesota, you know we are struggling thru a long, very hot stretch of weather. The dew points are very high with temps in the 90s most days. This weather is hard on the very young chicks, since they have difficulty thermoregulating in their first few weeks of life. We had some very late hatches and I do worry about those chicks. Some of the earlier hatches, chicks who are now close to 30 days old, will find it easier to survive. Remember, the only fluids they get are from the fish, so it’s critical that the males deliver a lot of fish to keep their families going. I personally find this weather difficult, so I have been going out very early, 6 a.m. and checking as many nests as I can till about 11 a.m. when it just gets too hot for me. I have been watching the chicks on the Arboretum nest cam, and I must say that everytime I check in I see them being fed , or they are in a food coma with bulging crops! Last night as I watched the female feeding, it almost looked like a video being played high speed! She was shoveling the food in so fast, it made me laugh. This evening I watched her feeding one chick, while the other was just laying there, showing no interest in eating. It concerned me. But after a while the female picked up that fish and dragged it past the eating chick, to the one that was laying down and very intentionally offered food until the second chick got up to eat. Great mom.

On the nest where we did the rescue, the sad news is that the little chick, which was so much smaller than the one whose legs were dangling thru the nest, seems to have perished. But the larger chick, who had the skin worn away from trying to extricate himself, is doing great! He is super active, moving all over the nest now that it’s flat and safe, standing tall, and developing his leg muscles since he is no longer stuck in a hole. He eats a lot and is growing very quickly.

So now we just keep counting heads thru this heat wave, hoping for the best for all these little guys. Stay cool people!

Arb cam

the Osprey Cam at the Arb has been fixed!
http://arb.umn.edu/content/live-osprey-cam

Drama...

Well, I had a drama filled day in ospreyland. First I need to say that as many know, the Arboretum cam is broken....the WiFi connection is the problem and apparently the repair was beyond their budget at this time. I did go out and check on them yesterday and both chicks were up and at em, bopping around, and both parents were there, so all is well there.
Today I got an email about a serious problem on a nest....photo below. You can see a hole in the bottom of a nest and some little legs hanging down. So I sprang into action....went home, got a bunch of sticks and wood chips and the property manager arranged for a lift machine to get me up there. One of my trusty monitors, who monitors this nest, Barb, met me and we went up, took out the chicks, filled the hole with sticks, then filled in around the sticks with woodchips, and then put grasses on top. I called the Raptor Center, we sent photos of the abrasions one of the chicks had on his leg. We discussed it and decided to put some neosporin on his leg and place him back in the nest. Mom and Dad flew over during the rescue, and mom was back on the nest before we drove away. Hopefully both little guys will be allright. A special thanks to Brett for noticing those little legs dangling, and to Paul for contacting me, and to Barb for helping me. I am so glad I could help. We will watch over this nest a little more than usual in the next few weeks.

Arb cam....

As many of you know, the Arboretum Osprey Cam is down. I am getting a lot of messages asking about it, so I have to remind people that I do not run the cam....I just watch it and comment on the behaviors observed there. I know that initially it seemed that there were problems for people watching on a phone, but my iPad still received the livestream perfectly. There were conversations with some of the people at the Arb about that, since it was odd....and then it all went down and I have heard nothing about what is wrong or when or if they anticipate the cam working again.

Of course we dont want them to disturb newly hatched chicks if there is something physically wrong with the camera itself. I will try to monitor the nest in person to see how they are doing when I have time, and I will share that info. I know how frustrating this is for those of you who are addicted!

Right now we have SO many nests hatching, and also this is the time when we start to see some nesting failures and I am trying to figure that out, count heads on successful nests, and it’s got me running all over. Sometimes figuring out what went wrong, or what’s going wrong on a failing nest, can be very time consuming and upsetting. Many times it remains a mystery.

If I hear anything about the Arb cam or that nest, I will surely share it. Thanks for your patience. Thanks for caring.

Two!

And number two has hatched at the Arboretum! Don’t worry...mom wasn’t gone for long!

Yes!

We have a hatch at the Arboretum nest.....mom is not letting us see much but it is a wiggling live little tiny chick. Eggshell off to the side...

 The little blob to the left of the egg, in photo below,  is the newly hatched chick! Notice the small cup, or indentation in the nest where the egg and chick are, making it easier for the adults to sit on them without harming them. The chick cant can’t even hold its head up for more than a few seconds.

Sad start....

 Have been watching the Arboretum cam this morning, day 39 of incubation, and I am at a loss for what I have seen. Clearly one egg is open.....but the female moved it and pulled something out of the egg and ate it. I cannot see a chick in the nest. I will keep watching.....they are so tiny and so camouflaged in the sticks. The female left and the male took over incubation. The egg was not damaged yesterday that we could could see. It certainly could have been cracked in a way that was not observable on a cam like this that is not super hi def. At any rate, we are now watching for hatching on the other two eggs. Nature is not a disney movie. What she ate did not not appear to be a fully developed chick. There are reports of Ospreys eating a dead chick, or feeding it to other chicks. If the egg was damaged and the chick died, it is a wise use of protein. She also walked around the nest and picked up and ate a few few small bits of something. At any rate, its it’s not what we expected to see this morning. But we still hope for two healthy chicks to come.

Better days....

Well as you all know, this place I live in has been thru some very trying times in the last week. It is a pretty dark time and sometimes monitoring Osprey nests seems pointless when an innocent life is lost in such a horrific manner. But I still drag myself out to check nests. In the last week there has been a lot of hatching, which is a lovely thing to observe.....the males bringing those fish to the female for those first feedings. I am happy to report that I have seen FAR less headshaking and the black flies seem to be subsiding. Thankful that these new chicks will not be tormented.
Today I saw the first chicks for this year....finally big enough to stand up, at about ten days of age. I waited for 90 minutes for the male to bring a fish and when he did, it was a whopper! The female took it and at first there was just one chick standing but then up popped number two! The littlest one was onay able to stand up for short periods, but I could see his little beak reaching out for fish bits. The older chick was able to remain standing thru the entire feeding, until both seemed to collapse into a food coma and Momma just kept eating. Pop stood on the nest the entire time watching and helping to shade the wee ones. He snoozed a bit as well. Happy family. Still such a lift to see those little guys...almost made me forget what our community is going thru. Life does go on....sometimes it’s something this small that can keep me going, hoping for happier, more peaceful days to come. Justice for George. 

I also must send out a huge thanks to Ruth Rechtzigel for her generous donation to help keep this research going. I am so deeply touched by this support. A million thanks!