Was fortunate to stop by at AM feeding time with both parents present. Confirmed only one chick in this nest currently - appears healthy and eating well.
Was fortunate to stop by at AM feeding time with both parents present. Confirmed only one chick in this nest currently - appears healthy and eating well.
Was thrilled today to observe both parents and at least one chick (large) on the nest. I could not see more than one chick, but given the geometry of this setup, it is hard to see into the nest. Will try later this week, but happy to report one healthy chick and two active parents. Thrilled, because last year this nest failed.
Male and Female are sharing nest duty. New picture posted today of the female taking a lunch break. All is well at this nest. Seems they are incubating but will keep an eye out here in the next week or two for hatchlings.
Nest is now occupied with male and female. Hard to tell which Osprey is occupying which nest here on Hazen, but time will tell. Good news is, both pairs are defending their nests and mating. Wow. Many Osprey overhead circling as well - looking for places to call home I guess. Great to see the Osprey population returning.
Today I observed the male mating with the female in the other nest! Confirmed it is him by the silver leg band number. Will keep watch to see if this is a permanent change of residence for 086. Of course, after mating he went out in search of nesting material and came back with a huge piece of rope for the other nest. Will post it over there. To be continued....
Still no female with him on this nest. However, the nest just west of this one on Hazen has a female and no male. I think he may be moving into this nest because, over an hour, I saw him going between his nest and hers.
Leg-banded male was first spotted by me at the nest on Friday, 3/13/20. He was there again today eating a fish. Female has not been observed yet, but I have confirmed the band number to be the same male as in previous years. How awesome! Glad to see him back. Hopefully they will have better luck this year. 4 Osprey observed in the immediate area yesterday and today, so one of them might be his mate. Hopefully! Happy spring!
Unfortunately it appears this nest has failed. Today , while other nest in the immediate area have chicks, I spotted the male on a nearby perch eating a fish and the female nowhere to be found. After about 20 minutes , the female reappeared and the male joined her, but then she left and he left again as well. I did not see any chicks and the nest was left unattended for a long period of time. Will check again in a few days, but it looks like their early egg arrival and egg laying did not work to their advantage this year due to perhaps bad weather early in the season.
The nest renovation continues. Both are heavily involved in chasing away not only potential rivals, but also more Eagles that encroach on the airspace above their nest. Pics posted of the male landing with nesting material, and a mature Bald Eagle overhead that both Osprey climbed up to meet.
3/16/19 was thrilled to see a leg banded male and his mate occupying this nest. Will examine photos to confirm same couple as last year, but appears to be the case. I watched as they chased away a juvenile Eagle who was circling overhead. Both of them went into defense mode. Awesome to see them back!
Posted a picture of the juvenile Eagle that was encroaching on the Osprey's airspace, and a shot of the male forcing the Eagle to dive away. Amazing moment. 3/16/19
I observed the Juvenile on the nest this morning. She was preening, bouncing between the south perch and the nest, and calling to every Osprey that flew in the vicinity. Did not see a parent in the 45 minutes I was watching. Pics uploaded.
Was pleasantly surprised to see the female and the juvenile at the nest today! Did not see the male but I'm sure he was not far. Mom had the fish and the fledgling was vocalizing rather strongly to get some. Still hanging around...
Chick is out of the nest and sitting on a nearby pole that borders the railroad tracks. He seems to want to join the 3 fledglings in the next nest down, but looks so lonely up there. Both parents were near the nest today, but eventually both flew away together. Nest is empty!
Female, nestling and Male observed this morning. Not much wing exercising going on for the chick that I've been able to see. Will try after the sun comes out to check again. Otherwise nestling looks very large and healthy. Been raining for the last few days. Pic uploaded.
This morning, after the nasty low pressure system moved through with strong winds and heavy rain, I'm happy to report MOM and one nestling were observed this morning. Did not see the male but he was probably out fishing. All is well at this nest. Picture uploaded
Both parents and one large nestling observed today. I've also observed the male's interesting behavior around feeding time on 3 different days- and he's consistent. He watches as the chick eats the fish - first from a distant pole, and then from one of the perches. He makes the decision when enough is enough and grabs the fish away, takes off and lands back on his favorite telephone pole to finish it. I saw this today as well. As he wrestled with the chick to remove the fish, he kind of hip-checked the chick, almost knocking her out of the nest as he prepared for takeoff. I have photos of this and it was quite interesting to watch. :) Photos uploaded.
Feeding was in full swing this morning. Mom and Dad got in a tug-o-war with the fish after a while, but Mom wasn't letting it go quite yet. Nestling is looking strong and healthy. Amazing when the very loud train goes by less than 30 yards away, they keep their cool.
Male, Female and one nestling observed today feeding and enjoying the warm day. Male is banded with silver band 788-49086 Originally banded in 6/21/2009 in Raritan Bay / Sandy Hook as a chick too young to fly.
Observed adult male on perch. Two juveniles in nest. Female arrived in flight. Male and female adults began circling above nest, coaxing juveniles to fly. But not yet. Fledging should happen soon!
Picked up more blue vinyl shreds from ground under nest. Vinyl is coming from roof of abandoned building on Ft Monmouth property. Chicks still in nest. 5:45pm
Female in nest. Male on perch. Lots of trash in this nest. See photo for hanging bits of what appear to be vinyl or plastic tarp which has shredded. Found bunches of this stuck to barbed-wire fence which surrounds property right under nest pole. Removed all I could (while female yelled at me and hovered over my head protecting the nest) and disposed of it. Not sure if there are eggs or chicks here. Unable to see into nest. Nest appears to be small and not very well built leading me to think this is a first year couple. Will continue to watch for possible entanglements in trash in the nest.
Past Seasons
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