Finally, a fish….

 I suppose some of you want your daily report on the orphan chick and the kind hearted, but unrelated, male! After a night of very weird nightmares, I got up early but with one of those anxiety hangovers from disturbing dreams. I wanted to get an early start but my trusty monitor Vicky beat me to it and was already at the nest site and reporting two ospreys there! Yeah! So I zoomed over and found the chick on the nest and Vicky out searching since she had seen them both fly off to the lake nearby. So she came back and we watched our girl after she moved to the lightpole. After a while the chick flew off and then, of course, the Male came with the tail end of a fish. He went to the nest first….and no chick came so he moved to the lights and ate it. These two seem to have trouble connecting!

It is always fun to connect with the monitors and chat a bit! Then Vicky had to depart and I sat and waited. The male departed….and I was there for several hours. No ospreys. Then about 10 am the chick returned, did some food begging….but she didn’t stay long. She did try to poop, and only a drop came out. This concerned me. She needed her tank to be filled. Off she flew, I checked all known perches and could not spot either one. After several hours I just had to pee and get some lunch so I headed up to a nearby grocery store.

I drove past à lake and something caught my eye, so I turned around and went back….sure enough, across the lake was a juvenile osprey. I watched for a long time….and slowly started to notice that she had a silver band on her left leg….so she was not the chick I was looking for. She made a dive in the water but came up empty, as most chicks do. Then I continued to the store and high tailed it back to the nest.

Damn. After literally hours of waiting and watching, when I am gone for 30 min….the male seems to have delivered a fish as the chick was on the nest eating! Woo hoo! I watched her for a while and then she flew off to the lake and one of her favorite perches and finished her fish. It wasn’t huge but it was a decent size fish and when she had finished, her crop,was full. I have waited all week to see this. I was very tired so decided this was a good point for me to head home. I will revisit tomorrow, after I check a few other nests.

I am relieved that she finally had a good meal. I hope she and this heroic male can make better connections and she can fill her tank for the grand journey ahead. I have fallen deeply in love with her….there is one or two like this every year, that command my attention and captivate my heart. And a part of me can’t wait for next year to see if this male and the single mom will both survive and become a real mated pair and produce a big family….and the female will finally have full support and protection from a male. I hope he will fight off the polygynous male down the road, and fully claim this territory.

Whew! She’s ok….

 Once again I returned to check on the single mom’s chick and the unrelated male. When I arrived at 8:30 the male was there. Sitting. Waiting. After 30 min he flew off to the east. I waited to see if he would return quickly but he didn’t so at 10:30 I left for one hour to check two other nests.

I returned to find no ospreys at all. Again I waited, searched the usual perches and surrounding area. Nothing. So I drove off to the east to see where the male might have gone…..checked a couple lakes and found….Bald Eagles. No ospreys. So I returned to the nesting are and found the male again, on the lights eating a fish. He stopped eating every couple of minutes and looked all around in every direction. No chick. He finally finished the fish and he departed at 2:00 pm…..heading southwest this time. I now have not seen the chick since Monday morning at about 11 am….3 days. I was feeling sad and discouraged…..about ready to head out and visit some other nests I have been neglecting. I wrote some notes and suddenly I heard something, I looked up and there was our sweet chick on the lights!!!!! It was 2:10!!!!! I am not kidding. The male left ten minutes before she got there.

She looked a little worse for wear….one broken feather hanging down on her right wing, an empty crop and she looked wet, like she had tried to catch a fish. I watched her preen, she worked that broken feather back into place. Suddenly she saw something and started food begging

and flew to the nest…..I followed her. She sat there for almost 90 minutes and the male did not show up.

She thinks there is no one to feed her….but there is. He has tried so hard. I told her that she needed to just stay put and he will bring a fish. But after 90 minutes she flew off …..to the east ( the opposite direction that the male had gone). I stayed for another hour hoping one or both would return but it had been another very long day for me, after a sleepless night. I left. But I will return tomorrow.

At least we know she is ok. I wish there was something I could do to get these two ospreys in sync. I just want to see her eating, with a full crop. The male is showing up at least twice a day with a fish….

Perhaps you will also find it interesting that for the past few days I have also stopped at the nest of the polygynous male down the road. I saw neither the chick or that male. This morning I rechecked that territory and found the male in a tree with a fish….and no chick food begging or visible in the area. On my way home, after seeing our little chick…..I stopped again at the other nest and found….no male and a hungry chick….half sister of the one that is occupying all my time! So even with a real Dad, these situations can occur. This is the process that chicks go thru to become independent…..they head out for some wild adventures, and then return home when they are hungry. Growing up happens in fits and starts, and clearly not all chicks make it. I hope these two do.

First photo is the male with a fish….then the chick, perched in the exact same spot when she first returned, ten minutes after the male left ….and then sitting on the nest waiting….with an empty crop.

Where is she?

 I revisited the chick and male on Monday…..In fact I spent about 7 hours there. I saw the male deliver a fish to the chick at about 10:30 in the morning….and she took it to the tree and ate. I last saw her about 11:00. The male returned about 12:30 with a fish but no chicks came to the nest. Eventually the male ate the fish and he departed about 1:15. I searched all afternoon and never saw them again.

I ran into another couple who have been watching this nest for many years and they went on a walk around the closest lake and reported seeing an adult osprey out there.

I was worried so I returned today. The male was in the habit of stopping by around 9:30 with a fish so I arrived a little later today…around 9 am. No ospreys. No 9:30 delivery. I hiked around one side of the lake, I looked in all the chicks favorite perches, but I found nothing. I heard nothing. So I took a spin around to some other nearby lakes…three of them. I scanned for any perching ospreys or fishing ospreys. I listened. Nothing. So I returned to the nest area.

So I decided to hike a different route along the other shore of the lake. I saw no ospreys but when I got to the furthest part of the lake I looked back towards the nesting area and saw an osprey perched on the lights. So I ran back along the lake, back to my car, drove back to the light and put up my scope….its the male. It’s 12:30 again. He looks all around, but no chick comes, so he eats the fish. Then he gives an alarm call and flies off like a bat out of hell…..probably saw a bald eagle. He disappeared. I waited. No sign of the chick. Then shortly before 2:30 I look out over the lake and I can see an osprey flying in circles….he has a fish. Hmmm… he slowly circles back and lands on the nest with a fish. It’s the male. He was clearly trying to lure the chick back to the nest by displaying it….this fish was for her. He sat there, looking in all directions….no chicks came. So he flew off with the fish to the lights nearby. He waited, looking all around. It was at least 15-20 minutes before he started eating the fish. This male is acting like a dad….but he isnt the dad. He knows that. And it’s so touching, and so troubling that the chick is not around to eat the fish he is bringing for her. I am worried. But sometimes these fledglings do take off for a little adventure to test themselves….and they maybe gone for a day or two and then return when they are very hungry. I hope nothing tragic has happened. This male is amazing. Many times when a new male shows up in a territory, we assume he is a young male looking for a mate and a territory for the first time. But this males parental instincts are so much like a normal parent, I wonder if he has raised chicks previously. He may have lost a mate, lost a nest, who knows. When he finally finished the fish, which he ate haltingly…..stopping and waiting, looking for the chick, he flew up in circles above the nesting area….circling slowly, higher and higher and I watched as long as I could until he disappeared into the sun. I hope he won’t leave yet….this chick may still need him. Where is she? I have put in so many hours, and yet I will probably return tomorrow….I have many other nests to check but this one has a special place in my heart. I don’t know why the female left so early when she had a chick depending on her…but this male is trying his best to care for this chick. But where has she gone? I hope I get to see them both tomorrow. This always happens at the end of the breeding season….some nest, or nests, capture my attention and I give in to my desire to know what’s happening….this is how I learn. Many many hours watching them.

The new male…

I spent the entire day today and a few hours yesterday  at the nest of the single female who was rising a chick alone…..until recently when an unbanded male showed up. I have been so busy lately I have not gotten back to that nest in a little while. The monitor watching that nest was reporting seeing the female and chick on several occasions. When I was  there  yesterday I saw only the male and the chick. I wondered why I see that male often and she never has…..and then I realized that she probably had seen him and misidentified him, thinking any adult there would be Mom. That Mom has a very light breast for a female so discerning the difference between the male and female might be a challenge. I could see the difference. She has a silver band, and he doesn’t….(and I always notice bands) and I am familiar with her markings and when I first saw the male I made note, and took photos, of his markings.  

Anyway when I was there yesterday for almost 2 hours, I did not see the female at all. The male was there and he did deliver a fish to the chick. Photos below. This is amazing, since he has no biological incentive to feed that chick. But it caused me to worry so I returned today and stayed all day. It appears that Mom is gone. I hope nothing terrible happened. It’s hard to understand why she would abandon her chick at this point. But maybe her female instincts were telling her it’s time to head south….and she had some kind of sense that this male would feed the chick? 

This morning I found no one there for the first 90 min. Then at 9:45 the male showed up with a big fish. But the chick wasn’t there. He waited. He had eaten the head but he did not eat the rest of the fish. After another hour the chick came in screaming and whining the whole way to the nest. The male immediately came to the nest with the fish and there was a fury of flapping wings and chaos and then the  male flew off. The chick flew a short loop with her fish and then went back to the nest to eat. She ate for quite a while and then just dropped the fish and walked around the nest a bit before she flew off towards the lake. 

I went searching. I finally spotted her in a tree. As I sat there and watched her  she took off and did some loops, foot dragging in the water, and then a few actual water starts! She is practicing! Then she went to a tree.  Then she flew off to a part of the lake I couldn’t see. It was now noon so I had to find a bathroom and get something to eat. I was gone for 25 min. When I got back, the male was on the lights again, with no fish. He stayed for an hour and then he departed. I went searching for the chick and found her in a tree. I watched her there for a long time. She was clearly getting hungry and she went back to the nest and got the dried up remains of the fish she had left there three hours earlier. She flew off and I lost her. As I was searching for her, the male came back with a big flopping fish! Damn it….the chick just left with the dried up leftovers and here he is with food. He waited for about 15 minutes and then he ate the fish. Dang. I could not locate the chick. Just as he finished the fish, the chick arrived on the nest hollering for food. I am not kidding…..these two are out of sync. At 3:15 the male left….and I was hoping he would be back soon with a fish….but an hour later, the chick gave up and flew off….I looked for her but then decided after 8 hours of watching them I needed to go home. The chick had an empty crop and I hope he returns this evening with food. But he doesn’t have to. This is not his chick. Why is he doing this when the female isn’t even around to impress? Instinct? Many males wouldn’t do this, and  he could stop at anytime. This chick is alive because of this male. I am baffled why the female has disappeared. Maybe she is still around, but taking time to prepare for her own migration. But most of the time when a female ends up as a single parent, she plays the males role and stays to feed chicks until they depart. But maybe this males presence is triggering her to act in a more typical pattern for a female. I just dont know. But my fascination and curiosity makes me hang out and watch….because I am driven to understand these birds, their behaviors. Will she survive without her mom? I have concluded after 33 years that most chicks need about a month post fledge of their parents food support before  they begin to disperse and care for themselves….some take longer, and some males take less time. This is a female chick. She fledged about 3 weeks ago. Will this male hang in there and feed her for another week? Well, you know me, I want to camp out there and watch. But I have SO many other nests to check. But I probably will be back there in the next day or two…..( who am I kidding…..it will probably be tomorrow).

Unique

 Just an interesting look at an osprey…..for those of you who have looked at many osprey’s you know that females often have what we call a “necklace”….spots on the upper breast. And males often have a whiter breast….sometimes completely white, and some have some spots on the upper breast. And there are ospreys whose markings are confusing. I currently have a female with a very white breast, and also we have a male with quite a few spots….if you saw him alone you might say “female”. But I was watching this adult today….and I have never seen another osprey quite like it. Not actually sure which sex it is but I think male…..but look at those spots way down on his belly, between his legs! It looks like a red tail hawk’s belly band! Is this his Halloween costume? This ospreys is nesting on a very high transmission tower so I never got a really close look before today….the chick fledged and this adult was hanging out close to the chick. Always interesting stuff to notice about these birds.

Tragedy

 So much is going on every day that it’s hard to keep up with writing posts to share things with the readers. Fledging is a very challenging time for the ospreys and those of us watching over them. Many times watching a newly fledged chick can be exhilarating , and brings a joyful WOO HOO when it gets back to the nest safely. But sometimes, even many days after that first flight, tragedies can occur. About ten days ago this chick was seen wedged into the framework of the light that its nest was on. The Long Lake fire dept and a volunteer from The Raptor Center managed to rescue this chick and get him to TRC for medical care. Sadly, the chick had to be euthanized a few days ago. This is the same nest where I posted about the fence sitter a few weeks ago…..both chicks had been fine after their first few flights until this happened. Who knows how it got itself into this predicament. And I have not been able to determine yet if this was the fence sitter or the sibling. Every loss breaks my heart. Many thanks to Michael who rescued this chick and took the photos….and to the Long Lake fire dept for getting him up there, as well as The Raptor Center for their efforts to save this juvenile.

The good news is that thru this tragic situation I was able to connect with Michael who will be one of our new volunteer monitors!

Distressing issue….

 I have so many stories to tell, so many experiences to share…I can never get around to them all. Here is one more for you. This is a nest that popped up this year on a power pole near a big power plant. In those early days of watching them I thought….my that female has such unusual markings…..such a dark face. And then her mate landed next to her and I thought, how odd….he has very dark markings too! Then suddenly my brain exploded and I understood….this power plant processes coal. This birds are covered in coal dust. I was horrified. If this is what their faces look like, what is happening to their lungs? This coal dust does not wash off in the rain or when they bathe. I have been deeply worried about the two chicks…..but I am relieved to report that they both fledged successfully. So I am hoping they will begin to spend time further away from the coal piles, in safer surroundings. The chicks don’t look as bad as the adults. I hope the power plant removes this nest and this pair will find a better place to nest next year….tho I won’t recognize them probably!

Missing old friend….

 I had a very exciting morning today….there is a lovely banded male who nested on a cell tower for the past five years, and sadly his nest was removed and the tower was altered so he could not rebuild there this year. I searched for him and found him a short distance away in other cell tower. He and his mate were there dropping a few sticks. When I visited again, no real progress had been made and the female was gone. I watched the male just sitting there. The next time I visited, there were no ospreys at all. I searched for him at least three times this summer to no avail. I was very fond of this banded male….he also has a brother who is nesting about 8-10 miles away. I knew he had to be around and I also know that ospreys are very philopatric….loyal to their nesting territories. As I headed out this morning I thought, I will do one more search, extending a bit further south. I checked cell towers, transmission towers, a previous nest site of his…and found nothing. I went back to the cell tower where I last saw him…no one there. As I was driving away I saw an osprey flying across the road with a stick….I quickly turned around and got myself focused on the cell tower as he landed….IT WAS HIM! I was so happy! He is alone, but now he is doing some work on building a nest on that cell tower. I don’t know why he didn’t do it earlier….but I wonder if they nested somewhere else and failed. I just don’t know….but finding him again made me very happy. I will recheck to see how the nest is going and I hope his female comes back too. He is a great parent who has fledged chicks every year except this one. It’s funny how attached you can get to these banded birds when you watch them year after year. Gosh, that made my day….

Confirming successful fledging….

 Crazy busy weekend….frantically trying to gather data on successful fledging….that means visiting nests and watching for a while to try to account for all chicks right after fledge. It’s not easy, it can be time consuming. Many people don’t understand the value of this info….it determines if a nest is successful or not, it also determines the number of chicks that we record for the overall totals. My mentor, Sergej Postupalsky, wrote a paper about terms and methodology that is still very much a guiding light for me. It’s important that we discern the various causes for failure and what constitutes success. I had a boss that wanted us to consider the number of chicks we banded at 4.5-5 weeks of age as the final number. Sergej strongly disagreed with that since at that age the chicks are only about half way thru their development….and many won’t fledge until they are close to 8 weeks old. There are a lot of losses in those weeks, so an earlier number is falsely exaggerated, and slants the data. So I try very hard to get a number of chicks right before fledging age….and then confirm the number of chicks that we know fledged successfully. That does not mean they flew away….since osprey chicks are dependent upon their parents for food for several weeks or a month post fledge. So we are looking for chicks that have flown, landed safely somewhere and are returning to the nest to be fed. This is not easy. I am working very, VERY hard to get this data. Sometimes I just don’t get back soon enough after fledge to find them all and see that they are being fed. With well over 200 nests now, it’s becoming an impossible task without more help.

But I am making the rounds and doing my best. I visited two nests yesterday where I had seen no chicks on the nest, which worried me…..I could not find them anywhere. And upon this return visit…Boom! One by one they returned to the nest!! Some photos below of those nests with three chicks each. I also went to another nest where I had seen all three fledged last week and sadly, the nest was empty….but I thought, it’s ok. Then I heard this very loud foodbegging….and I looked up and a chick was right above my car! I slowly mover around to take a photo….but my scope almost couldnt zoom out enough to fit her in the frame….she was so close! And so tolerant. I laughed……food begging with a fish in her talons!

I call these gatherings of all chicks “the morning meeting” ….and it got a bit testy at the first one!

What a beauty….

 After the rain today I did step out to visit a few nests…

It’s been so frustrating, with so many nests to check, when I visit and the chicks are getting close to fledge…..and then I return 9 days later and they are gone. I cant find a single one of the family. I searched and waited….even found a new nest, or start of a nest, or maybe something this pair had started previously. I didn’t hear any chicks, tho I finally found the male on another celltower. I will have to try again, and sometimes I have to accept that with this many nests, some will fall thru the cracks and I won’t have definite final outcomes. I know those chicks made it to fledging age. I just can’t get back to them soon enough. We are also searching for missing chicks post fledge on many nests….and sadly, I found another dead chick in a nest.

I also visited a nest that had three chicks but all of them disappeared much earlier in the season. I don’t know the cause, but I suspect predation. Since then I had not seen the adults and that worried me…but yesterday I found them both perched side by side , each eating a fish. The male is banded. It was a relief to know that they are both ok.

So after a disappointing few days…I went to another nest that I had been to 9 days earlier. That solo chick was starting to hop and flap then, and today when I arrived there, I could not find a single osprey. I searched all around the area, and then just sat there waiting….hoping….and when I looked up from my field book….this stunningly beautiful chick was perched on a nearby celltower. I was so happy to see him. Somehow, when you watch chicks in a nest, you don’t always see all of them, you don’t notice all the spectacular markings….and when they have fledged and are perching in the open….boy it can take my breath away! I saw no adults, but I am sure his dad is around. But some females are starting their trips to the spa….as they begin to build up their strength, their muscle mass, their hunting skills, to prepare for the big trip ahead. On a nest with a single chick, this leaves the chick alone a lot. It often seems that on larger brood nests, the chicks fly around together, they have someone to play with, someone to compete with. But on the other hand, single chicks get all the food! Anyway, this nest is one of my favorites….tho we lost the long time banded male several years ago. The new male has been a devoted mate and Dad. I think it’s the same female, tho she is unbanded. So it lifted me up to see this spectacular male chick, with a totally white breast, perched up there in the late afternoon light. What a beauty. He made my day!

The new male returned….

 Yet another interesting day where I don’t get as much done as I planned. I stopped at the single females nest…..no one was there. No one was perched in any of the usual places. I heard nothing, I searched and waited for an hour…..starting to get worried. Then as I was about to leave I saw an osprey on a water tower nearby…..I scope it and it was that handsome new male, eating a fish. Suddenly he chirps and flies towards the nest….but another osprey was flying towards the nest too and they both had a fish. They both landed…..it was Mom and the new male. But no chick. They stood there next to each other….no aggression….and then the male went off to a light pole nearby. Mom waited, looked in all directions…..she did not eat her fish. She kept looking for her daughter. After a few minutes she flew off with the fish towards the lake across the street. She flew a loop and then headed back to the nest, followed be her screaming offspring! She rounded up the kid. Then she started feeding the chick….but before long the chick said, I can do it myself and grabbed the fish from mom. Mom said OK. The chick ate. Mom watched. Then the male came to the nest with his fish! He dropped it and left. The chick looked at it and thought it was a better fish, or at least a bigger fish, and dropped the one she was eating and grabbed the one the male dropped. Then mom took the remains of the chicks fish and they both ate. Wow. So this wonderful new male is still around. He is bringing the fish to the Mom as a courtship offering. But the chick is benefiting. This is only the second time I have seen him, but that means he wasn t just passing thru….he is hanging around. He is a good hunter and always has a large fish. There is no aggression between him and the female. I am feeling kind of hopeful…..that they may be establishing the beginning of some sort of bond, and that if they both survive migration, maybe next year she will have a real mate. If this new male begins to think of this as his territory, he may be willing to fight off the polygynous male down the road. It’s still tenuous….but seeing him bring a fish for the second time certainly is a good sign. And little miss muffet is also doing well. Boy that was fun to watch

Parental care….

 I have been SO busy that I have been saving up a bunch of posts that I wanted to share with you all. These days, when chicks are fledging, are among the most important and I have to devote myself to watching them and gathering the data before we run out of time. So answering emails and writing posts have sort of taken a back seat….and I am working long hours during super hot weather….and well, one person can only do so much. So my focus has been on fieldwork, collecting the data.

Anyway….as chicks fledge I keep observing these behaviors from the adults that really touch my heart and show how deeply they care about the welfare of their offspring. A recent newspaper article here in MN claimed that osprey adults swoop down on the chicks and try to get them to fledge, to leave the nest. This is completely untrue. Osprey chicks fledge when they are physiologically able to. It is related to when the blood recedes in the feather shaft, causing the feathers to stiffen and become capable of sustaining flight. Osprey parents would never try to force their chicks to fledge before they are ready. They fly, with no encouragement or stimulation from the parents, when they are ready. One of the endearing things I have seen at many nests recently is how, when the chicks first fledge, and often land awkwardly somewhere, I see an adult go and perch very near them. There is nothing they can do to help the youngsters, but they can offer some protection from a predator….and it seems like moral support! I was at one nest, over a week ago now, where there had been two chicks on the nest and when I stopped to check….nest was totally empty. This is a nest on ballfield lights. No adults were seen and no chicks were perching on other lightpoles. I was concerned, so I drove all around the area….went down a road that goes behind this ballfield…..looking on the ground, and in the trees…..no chicks seen. I got to the end of this road and turned around….and quickly spotted two ospreys sitting side by side on a fence. I put up the scope on the car window….mom and chick. Side by side. So sweet. Then I thought, I drove right past them coming in but now they know I am looking at them…..how do I get out without disturbing them? Hmmm. Well, I will drive as far to the other side as I can and go quickly without looking at them. It didn’t work….mom flew. But chick stayed put. There was another chick missing too, so I thought I will go check some other nests….but as I drove away I thought….nope can’t do it. Gotta go back. So I watched that chick on the fence from a distance. Then I looked up and saw that dad was perched on a lightpole directly above the chick. Suddenly a lot of commotion, food begging, erupted and I saw the other missing chick return to the nest and mom met him there. When the fence sitter heard all this, she started to think she was missing something….and she walked back and forth on the fence and then finally jumped off and started circling to gain the altitude needed to get back to the nest….it was a bit windy that day and when she finally got up higher she decided to just land on the lightpole next to the one where the nest was. And within a minute, the male came over and perched right next to the chick! This is what they do! They stay close. After the chicks have been successful, this kind of care and attention will lessen. But I have seen it so much this year. At the nest with our two oldest parents, both 19 years old….when their chicks first fledged, and landed in some odd spots…..the tippy top of a pine tree….an adult would show up on the next pine tree over. Staying close. And today I was watching a nest in a gravel pit. They had one chick and the nest had no chick in it….but an adult was on the nest edge. So I closely studied the whole area, looking for the chick, and spotted him on some equipment on the far side of the quarry….and dad was perched right near him. I see this so often, and see the deep concern and support they show to these newly fledged chicks. This is a side of osprey behavior, that many may not be aware of, just warms my heart so much and makes me love them even more. What spectacular parents they are.

Fledge at the Arb!

 The first Arb chick fledged today! At a little after 8 am she took off….first photo….and she returned at about 10:47….i think at first she tried to land on the camera cause mom and the remaining chick were looking up and the whole camera shook. But then she tried again and landed in the middle of the nest between the other chick and mom. Boom! Successful fledge! Thanks to Meg for alerting me as I was out in the field….but I had been seeing the signs of imminent fledging for a few days so had her alerted. I cant sit in front of a screen that much…and I watched all morning before I had to hit to road to check many other nests….so there ya go folks…..one more to go! Any day now! But now we have to tell them apart…..

It’s quite a milestone from those early days when we were worried about whether Mom would even feed them….but she grew into a terrific parent and now she is a successful parent!