Hatched!

 Our first chicks have hatched! Right on schedule, day 39! It just never gets old, and is still a thrill to see after 29 years of watching the ospreys. At first Momma was just sitting but she kept hunching up to peek beneath her breast. Then Dad arrived with wet grasses to cool the little ones. Both adults stood side by side staring into the nestcup. Mom walked around the edge of the nest and picked up a half eaten fish, leftovers from a previous feeding, and began offering little bits of fish into the nest. Chicks are too tiny to be seen yet, but they are in there!!!!

Storm loss

 Sadly I did find one catastrophic loss today….

one nest that was removed last fall, was rebuilt this spring and eggs were laid in it…..is completely gone after the storm. I waited until i saw both adults. Good to know they are ok.

Photo from several weeks ago, and today…..sigh. They worked so hard to rebuild the nest….

Most other nests we are finding to be ok…..some damaged a bit, but incubation continues. Still making the rounds tho….a lot of nests to visit.

 

The storm….

 hey guys just want to make a point here…..if you post a comment on this page and you dont get a reply, do not assume that I am blowing you off. As many of you know, I am stretched very thin, trying to do so much, and I often miss stuff on Facebook. That is why I frequently post my email address…..please use it if you are seeking an answer, want to share info, or want to communicate with me for any reason. I always answer people, eventually, but on occasion I miss what is posted here….you can always contact me at osprey.mn@gmail.com.

I prefer to have conversations about specific nests or monitoring via email, so just want you all to know that I am available….but facebook is just not the best way to connect with me. My apologies to anyone whose comments here were overlooked.

I just have so many hours in a day, and facebook has become a lower priority out of necessity. Emails are MUCH less likely to be missed!

I am hearing from many of our intrepid nest monitors that most nests survived the storm……some nests were damaged, but we are locating both adults on most nests….of course it will take time to recheck all nests. These birds never fail to amaze me by how tough they are, but weathering storms is just part of being an osprey. I would always prefer to lose eggs than chicks. At this stage they still could reclutch, tho its getting late. And we may be in for another round of storms tonight….hopefully less severe.

Many thanks to all the monitors who were out there today checking things out!!!!! I treasure all of you who care so deeply about ”your” ospreys!

As one of the monitors drove me to a medical test today, we talked about a nest a few years ago that had three fairly large chicks, and a huge storm pelted them with hail that was so deep, the snowplows had to remove it from the roads….piled high. That poor female withstood that beating, trying to protect three chicks but they were too big to cover fully. Two of them died, but she managed to save one chick, and she survived uninjured!

I also remember many years ago a big tornado went thru the Hugo area, leveling homes, filling a lake with debris. There was an osprey nest about one football field away from totally flattened houses. When I checked them the day after the storm, the eggs were hatching and the adult's were feeding the tiny chicks! It was truely awesome! These birds deserve so much respect for what they endure to breed successfully!!!! So think good thoughts for them all tonight!!!!

Haven’t forgotten about you!

 As this population of ospreys continues to grow, I am finding less and less time to spend in front of a computer….writing posts and answering emails. I have also had some health issues and took a much needed break to go to California for a few days to visit my cousin and to see Paul McCartney on his first tour in three years. He was amazing and did provide a big lift to everyones spirits. I busted my butt to get to most nests before I left…and many ospreys are incubating. Sadly we still have some sites where a nest was removed and no ospreys have been seen, no rebuilding has occurred. We are missing a lot of banded birds….even younger ones. Today I checked a nest that was built last year and still there is only a lonely female there. No male has shown up. Not sure why she hasnt attracted a new mate. We are looking for new nests that might pop up. It will be very interesting to see how our numbers are at the end of the year.

At any rate, I havent forgotten about the readers! Only so many hours in a day tho….cant believe its mid May already!

New life….

 Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Ramadan…..

Our first ospreys have laid eggs….while many nests are still empty. I have now documented 14 nests that were removed, and I have not been around to even half of the nests so far. There will be more. Some ospreys are rebuilding, but it looks like some have given up. Many banded birds have not returned yet, and I wonder if avian flu has already taken a toll. We may never know. Many long term monitors are alarmed, saddened, frustrated.

For some of our older expperienced Ospreys who have laid eggs right on schedule, we are reminded that life goes on….

and more personally I see that with all the changes this year, nests gone, avian flu spreading….having solid long term data to help us document the changes may be more important than ever.

Brrrrrrrr

 Boy this cold windy weather seems to be slowing down migrating ospreys. Some of us were out there yesterday in the 40 mph winds and snow, checking nests and it was miserable. But we have a very short window between when the ospreys return and when they begin laying eggs and incubating. I am trying my hardest to get bands read before incubation when we might have to wait for many many hours for an osprey to stand up and reveal its legs. I deeply appreciate the volunteers who are helping me with this huge task. Some ospreys have been slow to return, probably due to the strong north winds. We still have some empty nests and are missing some of our older, experienced banded birds. I dont know if we should start grieving their loss, or just be patient. I was at one nest yesterday that in the past had a banded male who was often among the early returns. The nest has been empty, empty, empty. The nest was also among the 13 so far that were removed. Finally yesterday there were some new sticks up there! And I located the ospreys and was able to read the band on the male! Yeah the same, dependable guy. Quite late, but beginning the work of rebuilding his nest! I know its not fun for volunteers to be out there when its 35 degrees and the wind is blowing 40-50 mph….but this is part of the committment. I am trying to get around to all the nests, but reading bands takes time…..so I want to express my gratitude to those volunteers who are excited to see their winged friends and who are out there helping with this huge task in spite of imperfect conditions. You know who you are! I treasure you! These people are always rewarded by getting to observe interesting behaviors…..I love the early days. So we do still need more volunteers to help us out, if you have a scope, some birding experience and a willingness to commit 15-30 min a week to each assigned nest. We have a list of behaviors we are trying to document on each nest to guide the monitors. Our data has been consistantly collected for 29 years and the results are always posted online so the public can see what we are doing and learn about how the osprey population is doing in the metro area. This will be a particularly important year as we face the avian flu, and we dont know how this will impact osprey production. If you want to help….email me at osprey.mn@gmail.com

To my devoted monitors…..stay warm! It will get better!

More returns!

 The southerly winds the past few days have brought in many more ospreys. The official springtime game of musical nests is in full swing…..banded ospreys showing up on the wrong nests, birds showing up and then disappearing (not the territorial pair) etc. We have seen some of our favorite banded ospreys but are still waiting for some others. It can be a confusing time of year, especially after so many nests were removed….11 that I know of at this time…and those birds are moving to other established nests. Wow. Some of these birds will be able to rebuild in their old site. We have to keep checking, rechecking and reading bands when we can….sometimes over and over!

I was very happy today to see the pair who we put the new nestpole up for last fall. Their nest was on ballfield lights that were permanently removed. That male was working his tail off today bringing sticks, as the female just sat there and food begged! Its not the first time this guy has had to rebuild his nest, and he is a hard worker! Fun to watch him!

And another big thanks to Rick Endo and Ruth Rechtzigel for their donations to the project! I am so deeply grateful for their generous support!