Nesting Diaries
Beach Ambassador Lisa Meeks observed female leaning into the middle of the nest with food in her bill, apparently feeding chicks.
Dorie, Deb and Meghan viewed the male feeding small pieces of fish to the female who ate some then stood up and appeared to feed some to a chick or chicks in the nest. If so, they are newly hatched.
10:45 am to ? No osprey at nest (Fran) Last day of formal observations for the season.
3 pm- 5pm. Adults back with fish at 3:52 (Fran)
3 pm-5 pm No one on nest when we arrived. Soon one fledgling arrived and began calling loudly. An hour later the other fledgling flew in. As it tried to land on the nest, the first fledgling pushed it off! So, it went over to the ancillary perch and sat there. (Jerry and Dorie)
11:30 am-2 pm Only one fledgling at nest. Stayed there most of the time. Took a two-minute flight. At 1:39 one of the adults came in and left a small fish for the fledgling (Elaine and Fred)
3:20 pm-5:20 pm. One fledgling on the nest the entire time. No one else around. (Deb, Carolyn, Dorie)
11 am-1:30 pm Both young on nest. Female returned with fish and fed herself with the young looking on. She left after 30 minutes and the fledglings fed themselves on the leftovers. A little after 1pm first one and then the other fledgling left the nest and it was empty. One of the chicks perched on the ancillary perch for a while. (Fran)
10 am to 12:30 pm - Both young were on the nest. After a while, one flew away while the other stayed in place. At 11 am both were gone from the nest and out of sight and both returned 15 minutes later. An adult brought them food and one of the chicks tried to hog it all. Only saw one adult today. (Elaine & Fred)
A big day! Both chicks flew...for the first time that we observed. First they were jumping a lot, then, one flew out of the nest and around for about 5 minutes. When it returned to the nest, the second chick appeared to fall off the nest (and out of view, behind bushes). The adult male immediately flew down to it (out of sight). In a minute both flew up from the ground and around the nest for about 2 minutes. Three Beach Ambassadors got to see it all! (Brooke, Susan and Richard)
The chicks appear to be almost adult-sized. Both parents and both chicks were on the nest at 10 am. Hot day - 88 F (Fran)
10 am Female feeding chicks. Male brought a fish at 12:30 pm and the female fed on it. The chicks are getting big and flap a lot especially when the wind picks up. A third adult osprey came by but was chased away by the parents. (Carolyn and Fran)
10 am to noon. Male on his perch. Female feeding on nest. Both chicks on nest (Fran and Sharyn)
8 a.m. Chicks (2) stretching wings. Adult male tried to eat at his perch, but was chased by a black-backed gull (Fran).
Two chicks visible in the nest stretching their wings. (Carolyn and Dorie)
(29 May 2013, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA) Great news! Our Plymouth Beach Osprey pair John and Priscilla have a chick! I observed feeding behavior by Priscilla this morning. More importantly I saw the little bobblehead moving to get it's food from mama! I could see just the top of the chick's head and visibility was poor due to rain so no photography attempted. I saw only one chick today with Orion 10x50 binocs. So far so good! Stay tuned!
Our Plymouth Beach Osprey Pair are back! John and Priscilla arrived sometime over the past two days. A second osprey pair (m&f) tried to take the nest but John and Priscilla fought them off. Nest maintenance and copulation is already observed.