Another story from today’s adventures….

 I have one more little story from today’s adventures…I had a nest that laid eggs quite late and I kept wondering IF they would hatch. I wondered if one of these ospreys were new this year and that’s what the delay was about. We have very few banded birds now, and in the early days of this project I always did drawings of the markings on unbanded birds so I would know from year to year if it was the same birds or new ones. Now we have far too many unbanded birds for me to do that.

Anyway, they finally did hatch about ten days ago. So I stopped back to see how things were going. This female was doing what I call high brooding….not fully standing up, but not sitting down either…part way up, sort of hunched over the chicks. She was just staring in to the nest. I watched for about 30 minutes and all she did was stare into the nest. She only has eyes for her littles. I dont know if she is a first time mom but it was so endearing how entranced she was! One of the littles did get up so I could see its little downy head, and he wobbled as he lifted his tiny butt and shot the poop…a tiny poop squirt. So sweet. It was hard for me to leave because watching her watch her chicks was so touching. If you really take the time to observe these birds, even when it might appear that not much is happening ….you can’t help but be touched by their devotion. Once again I have to say, I feel so lucky to witness these small, subtle behaviors. I notice everything. I work very hard.…and I am richly rewarded.

Hard work….

 I wonder if any of you know how hard I work to gather all this data and check all these nests! Today I tackled a handful of nests I have to hike in to view…..some thru weeds up to my arm pits! ( next duty: woodtick check) The mosquitoes are unbearable in some places after all the rain we have had. Lordy, even long pants, long sleeves and a headnet are not enough! Note to self….wear gloves!!!!! 

And of course I have to remain hidden so the female won’t see me, give an alarm call, causing the chicks to pancake so I can’t count them!  And hauling a scope and tripod that weigh a lot makes it more difficult. But still, there are rewards! Being alone  in natural places, so peaceful. Being able to quiet my mind and just listen. And to have the ospreys reveal their secrets to me. Now, after such a difficult time in my personal life that kept me away from the ospreys for too long….I have finally visited every nest at least once…..some several times and some many times. I am filling in the holes on my working charts. Still a lot of  work to do, bands to read, chicks to count. And another huge task is those nests that used to be active, and where at least one osprey was seen this spring…but are now empty. Where did they go? Of course this is a needle in a haystack kind of thing….but I try to find them. Some have had their nests removed and I want to know what happened to them. It’s that damn curiousity thing. I have been traveling over 100 miles a day for quite a while now, trying to catch up. It drains my bank account quickly. 

A few updates….we now appear to have three single females….and two of those, whose mate died, have attracted a new male that is bringing fish! This is not something I used to see, but now perhaps with an increased population and more males looking for a good territory and mate…its is happening. They do not ever directly feed the chicks, but they drop a fish for the female (courtship) and they do defend the territory from other males….at least partially. One of the single females seems to just be alone….but we will keep watching and see what evolves. It’s interesting stuff. 

There have been some losses….nests failed, chicks gone. But the numbers do not seem unusually high. Still, it’s always sad. And we have a couple of nests that appear to still be incubating….which at this late date, probably means they are sitting on eggs that are not viable. They have a hard time giving up sometimes. And so do I….on lots of things. 

I know I am way behind on answering emails….bear with me. Gotta get the data, that’s the most important thing to me….and write a post here occasionally….and I will get around to emails on a rainy day!

Spectacular day…

 Some days….I tell ya. Some spectacular days like today, low humidity, very comfortable temps in the mid 70s, a nice breeze make me feel so damn lucky to be out there checking osprey nests. In spite of all I have been thru recently, I still do feel so fortunate to be alive, and to be experiencing my unusual life, spending my time immersed in the intimacies of Osprey behavior. How many people get to experience what I do? Not many. I am so grateful for those long term volunteer monitors who do share this wild and rare adventure with all its ups and downs. The sky today was stunning, the weather perfect, the Osprey chicks visible, male ospreys perched a ways from some nests, watching over their families quietly. Every corner I went around had more and more lovely views, I watched Harriers hunting in a field, trumpeter swans and their cygnets strolling towards a lake, a heron rookery, and osprey chicks looking out at their world, with Moms shading them. Some extra ospreys making a little trouble for another family. Thats osprey life. I think a lot about why this experience has held so much meaning for me for so many years, why I can’t ever walk away. God knows, sometimes it’s very stressful. But days like today are so deeply meditative. When I can fully inhabit my body and quiet my mind, fully aware of just this moment. I treasure this…and I feel sad for people who have walked away. I find these rare and satisfying moments fill my soul. I love these birds, I love being able to develop some insight into how they experience life….in the moment. They don’t think about the past or the future. They accept what happens as it happens. They persevere, no matter what. There is a lot to learn about life from them, my friends.

Clarification….

 I read the new blog from the Arboretum about the loss of the ospreys chicks….with the suggestions that the chicks blew out of the nest or were predated. Most of you who were watching the cam know that the two dead bodies of the chicks were clearly visible in the nest. They were not blown out nor were they predated. They didnt disappear, they died. I have been watching this nest , and all known nests in the metro, closer than almost anyone else and will always try to provide the best answers I can with 30 years of experience observing ospreys. These deaths were heartbreaking and we cannot be sure what actually caused their deaths, but careful observations reveal that the two bodies were dead in the nest. Below is a photo with two grayish oval bodies in the center of the nest….those ,sadly, were the bloated decomposing bodies of the two chicks. Eventually the remains were either removed or covered with grasses. I believe it was the two younger chicks that died, with the older larger chick being the sole survivor. 

Just keeping it real here….

Another tragedy …..

 This week just gets more challenging….got a message this morning about a dead osprey found on the ground. So I went running and sat for many hours watching and trying to figure out what was going on. All was well on this nest 8 days ago. Now, there was what appeared to be a dead male not all that far from the nest. He was badly decomposed, but unbanded. Clearly this death did not occur in the past day or two. I watched the female on the nest….food begging constantly as two other males seemed to be competing for the territory. Two chicks were gone and one remained. She was allowing one male to land on the nest, and he occasionally chased off the other male. But the two males also sat near each other in the same tree for a long time. The female left to get food and was gone for an hour, while the poor chick sat in the rain. She finally returned and did have a fish, tho she had eaten the head, and fed the chick. Then one of the males tried to land on the nest, the other was right behind him and said, SCRAM! And the second male had a fish!

Small, but still….a good sign. The female grabbed it….and she and the chick ate again….and by this time that chick had a HUGE crop. But still, the female is stressed and two chicks are gone. Did they starve because she couldn’t provide enough food? Did something else happen? Sometimes it’s hard to find the answers….but once again it appears that some males be more open to sort of helping a damsel in distress, as an investment in the future.…to get a mate and a territory that is seen as desirable. I will watch as often as I can, and gather as much info as possible. Fingers crossed for a positive outcome here. Now I am torn between two nests where there is a lot of drama. The endless rain makes monitoring challenging….hard to count chicks heads when the Moms are sheltering them from the rain. Think good thoughts….after the tears.

Tragedy at the Arb….again….

Another very sad day yesterday….we have lost two chicks on the Arboretum cam nest. As many know, the power was disrupted to the cam for a few days. All three chicks were doing fabulous,  being well fed, and all showing normal behaviors prior to the problem with the power to the cam. Yesterday morning the cam came back on and there is only one live chick. It is devastating. We had no severe weather, just heavy rain. But Ospreys  can usually  deal with that. It was not torrential rain by any means. It  appeared that another osprey nest at the Arboretum failed about a week ago….for unknown reasons. And the third nest at the Arb appears to have only one chick….and they are GREAT parents there. 

So we don’t know what happened to the Arb cam chicks. These early weeks in an ospreys life are very vulnerable ones.  Chicks at that age cannot thermoregulate and they have no feathers so if they got too wet they could have died from hypothermia. Some people say they were not being fed, but everytime I checked in I was able to see good feedings, with each chick being fed. But several days without being able to see what occurred leaves us without any real answers. Its heartbreaking.

I will be checking other nests in the area this week to see if there is any wider  pattern. In other parts of the metro I am seeing a lot of three chick nests! A few failed nests, and a few that seem to be incubating too long which may mean eggs that aren’t viable. 

I did watch a sweet scene on one nest where the male was feeding both mom and the chick. 

I hope the remaining chick at the Arb makes it. It started out well this morning with the chick being fed. 

June 16 update….

 It’s been a busy weekend checking lots of nests and counting lots of chicks. Seems like a lot of three chick nests! I am happy to report that the nest where the territorial male was hit by a car and killed is doing well! Boy, in those first few days I didn’t feel very hopeful…but this female has done a fabulous job! She has a male that does bring a bit of food….perhaps one or two fish  a day….and the female leaves to get a fish when she needs to. The oldest chick will be three weeks old this week so those early days, when chicks are so vulnerable, is behind them. We think there are two chicks, but can’t totally rule out a smaller third chick. We have developed a great three person team to watch over them, so the nest is very well monitored. Thanks to Allison and Brenda for all their help, concern and dedication. As long time readers will remember, we had a similar situation last year, with a male that was injured just as the chicks were hatching. He was not killed but was in rehab for a long time. In the meantime another male, who we named KISA, stepped up to bring fish and even when the female disappeared, he brought food for the chicks. It was a very unusual behavior. And now we are seeing something similar. Tho this male seems to be interested in courting the female to secure this territory for the future. He has not fed chicks or delivered fish to them specifically…but delivers fish to the female. He also is still trying to copulate, tho it’s clearly too late for egg laying. I think behaviors are changing as the population grows and more males may be willing to help provide for chicks that aren’t his as a way to compete for a mate and territory. So, even after 30 years, I am still curious and still learning! We have seen other males near this nest, but they seemed more interested in the territory, than the female. She shooed them away. Lots of subtle signals between these birds. It sure is fun to watch! 

I also want to thank all the new volunteers who have stepped up to help me monitor some nests. I think we have some great folks that will be a wonderful addition to the team. 

One problem I am struggling with….with all the rain we are having, there are some nests that have sprouted some lush gardens!!!! And I cant see the chicks! HAHA…..

Hopelessly in love….

 Plugging away at checking so many nests….found another new one today. And have been enjoying counting heads on the nests…..damn they are cute. How could anyone not fall deeply, hopelessly in love with these littles….

An update…..

 I have to apologize for my long silence during May and early June. I have had a very challenging spring personally. I am struggling with disabling vision problems that resulted after cataract surgery, then I suffered a huge loss in my family, and I got quite sick, so my attention to ospreys had to be put on a shelf, to grieve and to heal. I have just had another surgery last week and we will see how things heal. I have been limping along, checking nests whenever possible and a lot has happened. I checked 81 nests in the past four days. ( 100 to go!) Many nests have hatched and I am starting to be able to count the tiny little heads….so sweet. It never gets old, the thrill of seeing the wee ones being fed.

Sadly we have already had a male osprey hit by a car and killed, leaving his mate alone right as hatching was beginning. This created a great deal of disturbance and I had to spend a lot of time figuring it all out. And of course this nest was not close to where I live….so lots of driving, and observing with troubling visual symptoms. This suddenly undefended territory attracted a lot of males, and keeping track of them, their markings, and the females reactions to them all was challenging. It’s so sad to lose an experienced, successful breeding male like this. But the female did leave the nest when necessary to get fish for her newly hatched chicks….tho she was hesitant to leave them unattended with other ospreys around. And slowly one male seemed to send the right signals, approaching slowly, keeping his distance. She reacted aggressively to another male…always lunging at him. So now she is copulating with the one male and a fish is delivered occasionally. He is not defending the territory fully yet. We are watching this situation unfold slowly and hoping for a good outcome in a very stressful and sad circumstance. Always a learning experience to study osprey behaviors.

I am also seeing nests that have been active for years, and where at least one osprey was seen early on….now empty. Where have they gone? It’s hard for me to do the usual exhaustive searching, tho I have tried unsuccessfully. I have found two new nests, one that has a banded bird that had been missing for years! We had assumed this bird was deceased. I have found two missing banded birds like that this year! Long missing birds resurfacing. Where have they been? And one of them, seen earlier, has now disappeared again!!! I am still searching…so many questions.

At the moment the overall project is overwhelming for me and I am way behind. I simply cant keep up. I have a large group of nests that are suddenly unmonitored and I need help. If there are people out there who have spotting scopes, some knowledge/ experience with breeding bird behaviors and are able to help monitor some nests in the north eastern metro area….shoreview, Lino lakes, Arden hills, Roseville, New Brighton, White Bear Lake, etc…please contact me. ( we have some openings in other areas as well). We ask for a commitment to check nests weekly and write a written report ( email) detailing observations each week. We have monitoring guidelines which detail the specific data we are trying to collect on all nests. All I ask is that if you are not going to be available for a while ( vacation, illness, or just unable to fulfill your commitment for whatever reason) to just let me know so I can fill in or ask another monitor to fill in. This is a rare long term research study, it is more than just bird watching for entertainment. Ospreys are an indicator species, at the top of the aquatic food chain, so the health of their population tells us much about our environment. I believe this research is important. I have been doing this for over 30 years and others did it for ten years before me so we have 40 years of data! I would like it to continue, but I need help from committed people who are curious, dependable, and patient! Contact me at osprey.mn@gmail.com if you are available and interested in getting involved. You will learn a lot!

Thanks to the monitors who have already stepped up to help fill some holes….Rick, Dani and Cindy. I am so grateful for your commitment to the project.

A huge thanks to Rick Endo and Ruth Rechtzigel for their financial donations…I deeply appreciate the support and kindness shown.

Chick #3 at the Arb cam nest

 And then there were THREE at the Arb! 

Hatching at the Arb

 The first chick hatched on the Arboretum Cam nest  on 6/5 at about 10 am and the second chick hatched on 6/6 around 12 noon.