And another....

 Out and about again today. The male that was the first known return the last two years has not returned yet, tho others have shown up. They do not always show up in the same order and it may be that he hasnt survived. But its way too early to jump to any conclusions. I checked nine nests today and found one osprey....not the one I saw yesterday....but a lone female, waiting patiently on the corner of her damaged nest. What I can say with some certainty is that the early returns are always established, successful breeders. They know that the sooner they get back, the sooner they can lay eggs and the greater the chances of survival for their offspring. Its always interesting and there are always surprises. I cant afford to drive all over the study area in these early days, but I am checking some reports and making circles in areas where I don’t have experienced monitors....and just trying to incorporate nest checks in to my regular errands and commitments. Its always fun to round a corner, wondering what I will see, and spot an Osprey perched there waiting for me!

My first Osprey of 2021

 Its official! I have seen my first Osprey and read my first band! Love it when the old regulars return so early. The lakes are really opening up quickly now and as I suspected, these strong southerly winds easily carried this osprey to his home territory. I suspect we will have more birds here tomorrow! Then the winds turn around for a few days. Southerly winds again on Thursday and Friday. Should be a fun weekend searching for Ospreys!

Wish I had taken a picture of that osprey , but I encountered a problem with a nestbox and felt the need to hurry home and try to find some help to repair it. So many nest box problems this year....and I don’t always have the help I need to fix them. But i keep trying! It felt so good to see one of my Osprey friends, and hear his vocalizations....yelling at eagles.

Not yet .....But very soon

 Yesterday I visited the nests that were reported as occupied by an experienced Osprey watcher earlier this week.....I checked all nests within a five mile area and found no ospreys....and no obvious signs of ospreys, no whitewash, fresh sticks etc. I dont think we have any ospreys back on our nests in the eight county metro area yet.....but they are predicting strong southerly winds tomorrow. Perhaps that will be the day that some of our friends come cruising back to their breeding territories. I will check some nests tomorrow! I am fairly certain we will have some ospreys by the end of this week!

They’re baaaaaack.....

 Well folks.....I have recieved the first credible reports of ospreys back on their nests, tho I have not confirmed it. It is from a reliable person who has watched the nests for several years....I am going to go check a few nests closer to home today....and will check those nests this weekend (and a few others during the week that are on my daily routes). Its an early start to the season! Nests that are close to open water, only the rivers at this time, are the ones that are occupied....but the rains that are predicted for the next few days may open up other fishable waters. So there ya go!!!!! Osprey season seems to have officially begun.....holy smokes. Are you ready? Get those field books and scopes out!

Not yet...

 Lets have a little talk about migration! We are getting reports of ospreys seen in MN and tho several of us have been out checking ( I checked about a dozen nests today) no ospreys have been seen. Yes the weather has been warm but we must remember that Minnesota Ospreys migrate to south and central america for the winter. They are not watching weather reports in MN before they head north! They are hard wired to begin their migration as a response to the amount of daylight, the length of the day. And each Osprey is a little different, but we often see the same ospreys returning early to their nests, and the same ones are late every year! So we are often not surprised by which nests are occupied first. There can be changes when a long time breeding bird does not survive and a new one takes over the territory. At any rate, when they start their move northward is a hormonal reaction to the changes in daylight and doesnt change that much from year to year....but when they start to get closer to their territory they may slow down if they start encountering frozen lakes. Since ospreys are primarily fish eaters, they need a food source to depend upon when they return. So return dates may be altered slightly if lakes are open early, or remain frozen until later than usual. That last push of their migration may be effected by the weather in that regard.....will there be food or not? But generally they do not return until, at the earliest the last week of March, and at the latest, mid April. New younger ospreys may return even later than that to find a mate and a territory.

So when lakes remain frozen later than normal, the ospreys may congregate south of here....Missouri, Kansas etc.....and then we get a lot of them at once when the weather changes. We must also remember that Ospreys are not dumb. Migrating takes a lot of energy, so they prefer to fly when winds are coming from the south, to carry them home easily. They usually wont fly in to a strong north wind. Again, they may hunker down and wait. So perhaps that gives you some idea of what conditions may affect their return dates. As of now, none of my experienced volunteers or I have seen any Ospreys. Keep watching those lakes! And those winds!

On their way!

 Well my friends, I have heard about ospreys starting to show up on the east coast, so it won’t be too long before Osprey season begins here in the twin cities metro area. If you have volunteered in the past and intend to continue to watch your nests again this year, please shoot me an email at Osprey.mn@gmail.com. And if you are interested in getting involved, we always need more help watching over all these nests in the eight county area. We are looking for people with some birding experience and a spotting scope who can commit to visiting a nest, or more than one nest, once a week thru the breeding season. I have written guidelines regarding what data we are trying to collect on each nest that I can send to interested folks. We usually start seeing our Ospreys returning to their nests in late March, into early and mid April. I will post here when the first ospreys have been confirmed....so stay tuned! They are on their way!

Here is a lovely photo from Kelly Doyle....just to get you all excited!