It’s become so difficult to write these updates recently. So many sad outcomes. Where do I begin, what do I say?
I have many situations I could write about. I hinted at them in previous posts.
But the latest sad situation is at the Arboretum cam nest. The banded male, MS was last seen last Monday (8/26) right before a storm came thru. We do not know what happened to him. He was never seen again. The mom was seen that morning, and she too was never seen again. Females are the first to leave on migration so perhaps she is on her way to her wintering grounds. Males do not begin their migration when there is still a juvenile depending upon them for food. The chick was seen on the nest for a few days after dad’s disappearance but on Thursday Aug 29 the chick appeared to have some large bird chasing it. He landed on the nest then almost rolled off the edge of the nest as if he was being dive-bombed and we could see him fly off, followed by a large dark shadow on the ground. The chick was never seen again. I have searched for him to no avail. A new unbanded male has been hanging around on the nest since the territorial male, MS, disappeared. I have witnessed a bald eagle chasing him repeatedly as I searched for the chick and MS. I am beginning to come to the conclusion that the chick may have been killed by an eagle. I wonder if MS met the same fate, or was he injured in the storm? It wasn’t that bad a storm and ospreys are quite good at surviving bad weather, but I just dont know. So many questions. What we know for a fact is the male has not been seen since Monday in the late afternoon and the chick has not been seen since Thursday morning. Typically a male will stay around and defend his territory and protect his offspring, but he hasn’t. And a juvenile will return to the nest to be fed for up to 4 weeks post fledge. Sometimes they may be fed at a different location, and some will venture forth and begin to try fishing on their own. So far, all searching has been unproductive. I cannot see or hear a juvenile asking for food. I have looked all around the area and surrounding lakes. The sudden disappearance is unusual, and the final video of the chick is disturbing. And the Dad would not leave his territory before the offspring. Adult males are typically the last of the family to begin their migration, staying until the chicks are no longer asking for food, and have begun their migration.
And if the territorial male, MS, were still around, he would not be allowing the new unbanded male to remain on the nest as much as he has.
This is all unsettling. We have so few facts, but we know that three ospreys are missing for sure. The female may be fine and on her way south as many females are now. But the sudden absense of the territorial male and the beautiful chick is cause for concern. And the presence of a new male is a signal that this is now an undefended territory. Now the cam is down or off so we cannot monitor events on the nest. Since it’s been a holiday weekend, all the gates were locked so I could not look near the nest for any injured birds or bodies / clues. I have been looking for the chick and Dad out side the fences, and listening for them, but I do all this with a deep pit in my stomach. I will expand my search area today. And this is just one of many situations of concern, just one place where I have spent so much time searching, watching, listening. More posts to come.
Thanks to Sunnie Day, a long time, very experienced osprey monitor in another state for the video and tips about these missing ospreys. I had been busy searching for missing ospreys in the other side of the metro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIA4eBLBv3E
