Nickname
Croaker Landing Nest
Coordinates
(37.4275, -76.7257)
Substrate
Channel Marker
Description
I watched the nest on 3/31/15 for one hour beginning at 11:30am. The nest is completed and a pair of osprey were resting on the nest: one of the edge and the other on the wooden extension supporting the nest. At 11:40, the female flew to the neighboring #2 post while the male continually "chirped" from the nest. (8 quick chirps rising and sometimes falling in pitch.) At 12:05, the female returns to the frame extension. Actually both birds appear equal in size with white throats which surprised me. At 12:18 one hunted for food from the edge of the river and quickly returned with what looked like a frog. At 12:25, female (?) returned to the #2 marker post. 4/5/15: Easter morning - I watched the osprey for one hour from 9-10am. No sign of incubating yet as female remained on edge of nest. Just periodic flying and hunting by both birds independent of each other. Female left nest twice to bully a nearby cormorant and gull to leave marker posts she deemed too close to the nest! 4/12/15 - Observed nest for 30 minutes from 4:30-5:00pm. Incubation has begun! Observed Female catch a fish and take it to the nest to share with the male who was sitting on egg(s). 5/6/15 - Incubation continues. Both birds were at the nest for the 30 minutes I watched. 5/10/15 - Incubation continues with both birds at the nest as before. 5/24/15 - One chick has hatched! 6/5/15 - Healthy chick begin guarded by both parents 6/12/15 - Chick continues to thrive. 6/19/15 - Chick was nowhere to be seen! The nest was empty. After 30 minutes the osprey adult pair were seen on a nearby dead tree with the female eating. No sign of the fledgling. Possibly it was resting low in the nest, but there was no adult near the nest to protect it. Predator? On 6/27/15 the nest was checked again but no sign of any chick. Parents were viewed in a nearby tree. Conclusion is that the chick was predated and the nest failed. 3/21/16 - no sign of nest building or osprey seen. 3/26/16 - pair of osprey are back! No nest is built yet. 4/2/16 - partial nest built. One osprey was guarding it. 4/10/16 - nest is small, but I suppose complete. Both osprey took turns guarding it. 4/17/16 It was lovely out on the dock this morning! One osprey was on the nest and the other was eating on the opposite piling. Later, that one on the nest flew over to the piling with a small fish which must have been on the nest platform and the other one flew to the nest. After 10 minutes or so, the one on the nest flew off somewhere for maybe 20 minutes then reappeared at the nest. At that point the one eating on the piling flew over to the nest where the two of them stayed together for 10-15 minutes and I left. 5/1/16 - Both pair were at the nest. At first I thought an egg was there as the male exhibited incubation behavior. But after 15 minutes he left and returned with another stick he added to the wall and then proceeded to bend down and work on the bottom of the nest. The female remained on the edge of the platform the whole time and appeared larger to me. 5/8/16 - Obvious incubation behavior! Both female and male took turns sitting on the egg(s). 5/15/16 - Incubation continues. Female sat on egg(s) and male appeared with a small fish 30 minutes later. A 3rd osprey appeared (male) and harassed both bird diving towards the nest. Both osprey pair scared him off after a minute of skirmishes in the sky. The nest's male then left with the same fish and the female returned to sitting in nest. 5/22/16 - Incubation continues. 6/6/16 - For the hour I observed the ospreys, one was hunkered down in the nest except for a couple of times when she/he was standing and seemingly moving the eggs or feeding the babies. Too far away to tell, but no fish were delivered to the nest while I was there. The mate was pruning on another piling except when he? flew off after a motorboat went by. Then he was seen flying around while another osprey flew in the area. Neither of these were seen by the time I left. 6/12/16 - It appears that incubation is continuing or possibly young chicks have arrived. We won't know until they are big enough to peak above the edge of the nest. The female was sitting low when I arrived, but later stood near the edge regularly dipping down into the nest - possibly attending to chick(s). 30 minutes later the male arrived with a small fish to share. They both leaned over into the nest to regularly feed, but I could not see any feeding of young. 6/19/16 It was raining and difficult to see, but both parents were guarding nest and appeared to be possibly feeding chicks 6/26/16 Two Chicks were definitely seen being fed by parents! 7/3/16 No sign of the chicks. One osprey appeared to be tending with the bottom of the nest for 15 minutes but then flew off. The nest was unguarded for at least the next 45 minutes. 7/10/16 Unfortunately the nest at Croaker Landing looks like it failed for second year. 2 chicks were spotted 2 weeks ago by Joanne Sheffield who shares this nest with me. Last week and again this week there is no sign of them. Both parents remain in the area but appear confused. One randomly and for short times visits the nest. The other brought a stick to neighboring post as if to repair or build a nest, but after about 20 minutes dropped the stick and flew off.
Followers
None
What to look for
Review All Observations
2016 - lucy2015 - lucy2014 - jude2013 - jude
aAdult Arrival3/26/163/20/153/17/143/10/13
aOccupiedYesYesYesYes
aActive
bEgg Laying5/8/164/12/15
bIncubation Initiation5/8/164/12/154/18/144/11/13
cClutch Hatching6/6/165/24/155/16/13
dNestlings2122
eFledglings022
eFirst Chick Fledging7/18/147/9/13
fChicks Last Observed6/26/166/12/15
xNest Failure7/3/166/19/15
xReason For Nest Failureunknown reasoneggs or young killed by predator

Select Seasons

Show reports, diaries, and photos from:Current 2016 2015 2014 2013

Activity reports

2013 Nest Activity Report by jude
Adult arrival03/10/2013Nestlings2
Nest OccupiedYesFledglings2
Nest Active First chick fledging07/09/2013
Egg layingChicks last observed
Incubation initiation04/11/2013Nest failure
Clutch hatching05/16/2013Reason for nest failure
2014 Nest Activity Report by jude
Adult arrival03/17/2014Nestlings2
Nest OccupiedYesFledglings2
Nest Active First chick fledging07/18/2014
Egg layingChicks last observed
Incubation initiation04/18/2014Nest failure
Clutch hatchingReason for nest failure
2015 Nest Activity Report by lucy
Adult arrival03/20/2015Nestlings1
Nest OccupiedYesFledglings0
Nest Active First chick fledging
Egg laying04/12/2015Chicks last observed06/12/2015
Incubation initiation04/12/2015Nest failure06/19/2015
Clutch hatching05/24/2015Reason for nest failureeggs or young killed by predator
2016 Nest Activity Report by lucy
Adult arrival03/26/2016Nestlings2
Nest OccupiedYesFledglings
Nest Active First chick fledging
Egg laying05/08/2016Chicks last observed06/26/2016
Incubation initiation05/08/2016Nest failure07/03/2016
Clutch hatching06/06/2016Reason for nest failureunknown reason

Photos of this nest

Nesting Diaries

06/25/2014 by jude
I don't know when the two babies hatched but heads began popping above the side of the nest around June 6th.

05/02/2014 by jude
This nest continues to do well. Female is definitely incubating and male stays close at hand.

04/18/2014 by jude
She is sitting low in the nest and appears to be incubating eggs.

04/07/2014 by jude
The nest appears completed. However, there is no incubating behavior noted.

04/05/2014 by jude
Looks as if she'll be ready to lay eggs any day now. The nest looks ready and they've been here for a while. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see her incubating when I check on Monday.

03/23/2014 by jude
The nest is nearly rebuilt. Both osprey have returned. One was sitting on the nest and the other flying in with sticks. Observed them for nearly 30 minutes and two stick-carrying trips occurred. This pair is moving quickly. Last year they were my first to lay eggs and begin to incubate.

03/14/2014 by jude
Osprey flying over the river but no nest has been rebuilt or begun yet. I'll check again this weekend.

07/18/2013 by jude
The babies are still off and on the nest but becoming very independent. They will probably not be seen too much longer.

06/21/2013 by jude
The pair are growing very quickly. It will be necessary to monitor closelly as fledging might be within the next few weeks.

05/24/2013 by jude
Parents very active feeding nestlings. Unable to confirm number of chicks yet.