Sept 26…

 Our girl was still there today….and I have about a billion photos of her. I stopped in the morning , after getting my Covid shot, and there she was waiting on the nest. she was perched on the edge of the nest and I zoomed in to get some closeups and darn, Dad came flying in with a fish before I could readjust my scope, so all I got was her reaction to her incoming daddy. Afree a visit to the pottery studio, I returned and I found Dad sitting alone with a fish….and no one food begging. I started to fear that the chick might have started her migration….cause, how will I live without her? Dad would take a bite of fish and then look all around for his kiddo. This went on for at least 10-15 min….my heart was starting to sink….and then suddenly….food begging! She was in the tree with a big fish of her own. But she was hollering for more….dad took off and I think he was perched inthe same tree she was, but above her, because she kept looking up and crying. Eventually she quieted down, dad was gone, and she returned to eating her fish. I spent almost 3 hours with her today….I simply can’t explain what it means to me and how it feels to just hang out with her.

Still here….

 Oh how I love this chick that won’t leave….

She is so beautiful and her Dad so devoted…these photos are from today! He is new at this nest this year….not a great nest builder but a great Dad. I just want to hang out here as much as possible….I am really struggling with empty nest syndrome this year.

So few ospreys, and such great monitors.

 I visited a lot of nests this weekend and was saddened to find so many empty nests. I know, I know….it’s time for them to go but life is less interesting without them. And for some reason this year their departure is bringing more grief than in past years. I did find these two chicks, and their Dads were around somewhere! I also ran into one of our great monitors , Marjorie, and it was such a pleasure to just spend some time chatting about our winged friends. I sometimes wish I had a recording of our conversations about all things osprey….how did we know the female at this nest was a new one this year? How were her behaviors different than the previous female? What makes a good volunteer monitor, how did the two chicks behaviors differ, why do we do what we do, what are the rewards, etc, etc. During the middle of the season I rarely have enough time to just relax and talk about the ospreys, as I need to get to 20 nests or more! It’s usually only at the end of the season when I have time to just share the osprey experience with a monitor when I run into them. It was so fun to hang out with Marjorie and have lunch together. She has been watching one nest for four years now and does a great job!( and has a full time job and the nest she loves and has chosen to monitor is clear across town from where she lives!) As you can see, she is a photographer as well, so is able to provide images to support the data! Her enthusiasm never wanes and she has been a great communicator. So a huge thank you to Marjorie!

This year I started taking some photos of the volunteers when I ran into them in the field, so I will be acknowledging them in upcoming posts. Of course there are many monitors who I didn’t run into, and didn’t get pictures of, but who have steadfastly sent their weekly reports. I am deeply grateful to each and every one of them!

Still here! With a goldfish!

 

A reward for my perseverance

 Our nests are clearing out, but I am still able to find a few ospreys around town and I thoroughly enjoy every moment with them. There is one nest that had a banded adult male and I have tried for two years to read his band. I would get parts of it, but still was missing a large part of the sequence. I saw him perched  somewhere so often and would get the scope on the tripod and sneak out, get myself positioned and just as I was focusing he would say, Nope, you can’t know who I am yet, and fly away. Argh. We repeated this pattern over and over. I am a patient person and I perservere, but not without frustration. So as this season has wound down I was watching him and his remaining chick. And finally in the middle of last week when we had a brief few hours of a north breeze, I was unable to find the chick anywhere. But I saw Dad in a tree. Of course I thought, he will never let me get close enough to read his band. But I will play the game again. Put the scope on the tripod and slowly approached him, set up the scope to focus……and he remained quiet and calm. Hmmmm I read part of the band but could not see the final part so I started moving around trying to find a better view. Branches were in my way. I thought surely any moment he is gonna take off. I got closer, I moved all around and he stayed put, tho he was watching me! My frustration mounted as I just could not find a spot to see those final numbers….and then he scratched his leg and spun the band around so the numbers I needed to see were right there in front of my face! Clear and easy to read! Call me crazy….but it almost felt like he did it on purpose, after testing me for two years! I thanked him. I thought that might be the last time I would see him….but I returned yesterday and he was still there, eating a goldfish. No chick around, he was finally relaxed and enjoying his meal alone. But that parting gift, of letting me know who he is, was another special moment in my life with the ospreys. It was late in the day with terrible fading light…but I snapped a few photos. 

Still here!

 Still running around to see who is in town! It’s fun and a challenge! Sometimes I have to wait a long time or search a lot to locate some ospreys. I rarely find any of them on their nests or easily visible…..and I wait, I drive around, I stop and listen. It’s amazing how many I find and it’s oddly rewarding! even with temps close to 90 and a dewpoint of 75. Ugh. So here are a bunch of photos….all different chicks and dads….all seen in the past few days! Enjoy!

Special reward!

 The ospreys gave me a little reward today for all my work watching over them. Last week we had a fairly dramatic change in the weather that brought some strong north winds, which seems to have carried away quite a few ospreys. But we still have many of them to watch over…..those late fledging chicks and some that had some difficulties in their journey so far. So I have been driving from one side of the metro to the other to check on some remaining juveniles and their Dads. I love this time of year….when some ospreys are gone, tho I am very sad to see some of them go, and I am  left with some lingering questions. But my load has been lightened a bit in the past week, so I am able to just enjoy hanging out with some of my winged friends. Today I went to check on a chick who had some stressful encounters with fishing line earlier this summer…and she has been doing very well. I finally noticed that I could no longer see any remnants of the line caught on her talon. Her leg and foot showed no sign of any injury and that annoying loop of line we have seen for so long is gone! I did some research and learned that monofilament loses 20% of its tensile strength every 100 hours when exposed to UV rays! So the line becomes brittle and easier to break and we suspect she was finally able to preen it out of her talons. I have checked her as often as possible and her sibling is long gone, as is Mom. But dear old Dad is faithfully bringing her food quite often. Many females do just hang around the nest crying for food…and inevitably people from the public ask me if a chick has been left behind or if something is wrong with these lingering juveniles. After 32 years of watching them I have come to think that these homebodies, these chicks that seem to just want to eat all the time, may actually be the survivors. These are the ones who will go into their migration with plenty of fat on their bodies, money in the bank! It’s actually the chicks that disappear early that concern me. So I am happy to see these chicks, usually girls, with their full crops, and a fish in their talons, as they food beg for more! This insatiable hunger is called hyperphagia, and it serves them well in preparing for migration. But sometimes I wonder about the other skills that will be needed to survive. Have  they practiced their water starts? Just going in to the water and getting lift off is a big skill! Before they even try to actually catch a fish, they must master this first step. It is something I usually get to see somewhere each year, because I watch them for long periods and I follow them, search for them, and as I said at the beginning….they do reward me! Today I got to see this young chick finally fly out over the lake, and I was running with my binoculars to keep her in view….she disappeared behind a tree, and then I saw her flying up from the water! Then I lost her again….and when I emerged from behind another tree I finally spotted her floating in the water. My heart started to race a bit….was she ok? And then she flapped those big wings a few times and took off out of the water….and there I was on the shore shouting out loud, in public, “great job! You go girl! I am so proud of you!”  Boy someday they are gonna lock me up! Thank goodness there weren’t many people around. But I was so happy to see her successful water starts! Now I know she is a little more prepared for the journey ahead. It’s such a treat to watch these youngsters….and when I put the effort into finding them, patiently watching them, they always seem to give me these special gifts. I watched her for three hours today….saw Dad deliver two fish to her, and saw her  grand efforts towards independence. 

And this visit was supposed to be a quick stop on my way to some other nests….but sometimes I just get to enjoy the way the day unfolds. I hope I get to see her and her Dad again before they leave….I treasure these September days with the ospreys, and I know the sadness that is coming when the last one has departed. But meanwhile….nothing soothes the woes of the world like spending quiet time in nature, especially with the ospreys. That special juvenile osprey made my day