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.