I think Dad has headed south. Didn't get to watch as many nests as we usually do because of a broken ankle. Happy the two stands closest to us saw an additional 5 fledges added to the population.
They were all standing up on the side of the stand AFTER I left this morning. They survived the latest heat wave, hopefully they are able to withstand the upcoming storms.
Today was a monster. We had freakish very heavy downpours for about an hour. When I picked up the binoculars and looked down Sunrise toward the stand, ALL 3 of them were up sitting on the side of the stand taking turns spreading their wings. I'm sure the rain had to be a thankful break from the sun roasting them all day.
YES! Pictaker confirmed what we thought and were able to see, 3! They are all beginning to take turns lifting their wings. Dad stays nearby while Mom moves to outer perch.
She flew away to bring DRIFTWOOD???? back to the stand and lo & behold THREE heads popped up flapping their wings. There are 3 and from what I could see they all appear to be about the same size
They definitely are feeding chicks...just can't tell how many yet. The way they are moving, I'd say two....more to come. Maybe somebody with better eyes will post if they can tell! :)
She's still low and rarely arises to stretch her wings. Haven't seen little heads yet, but that doesn't mean anything, they have a nicely padded nest in the stand and we have old eyes!
Male has freed himself of the bag. She has been very very low for the past 3 days and didn't pop up yesterday after he disappeared with the bag around his legs, thankfully he was back this morning and we could see her eating but just barely. One bag and it appears a rigid piece of a crab pot are still attached to their stand.
One plastic bag blew out but it appears he put it put it back yesterday. Today both eagles were sitting side by side at the edge of the wetlands in front of our house. When they took flight, the male osprey from this stand dive bombed them for about 5 minutes driving them out over the bay. These two currently nest on the ForkedRiver as you head west towards the Capts Inn. These 2 normally avoid the wetlands until fall, we'll see how it plays out this year. As of today the female is not staying in the nest so I'm assuming no eggs yet.
They have added to the nest in the stand including some plastic bags flapping on top of the nest. It appears they also have added a rigid piece of a crab pot hanging down one side. Yep, they are cleaning up the wetlands on Barnegat Bay
All three were on stand this morning, for past 3 hours the stand is empty, doesn't appear the chick is in the stand either yet it wasn't able to fly as of yesterday. Adult sitting on posts, can't make out if chick is in nest.
TWO heads popped up today. Dad is still feathering the nest brought back big sticks. He also as some point festooned the stand with a hanging bag of doggie doo.........
Approximately 3 days ago she raised up out of the nest. Dad now sits next to her on the side of the stand ripping apart fish and they are obviously feeding a chick, no clue yet how many hatched, more to come...
Junior is laying in nest lifting one wing at a time. Mom & Dad spend lots of time on the perches allowing the young one to walk around the edge of the stand haven't seen him flapping both wings in an attempt to lift off...YET.
Both birds are cleaning, filling & eating like mad. They've fought off the Eagles & Blackbirds without too much effort. I swear they recognized me this morning when I was grabbing some pictures. Game Farm stand is still empty :(
The fledge has been getting fishing lessons which have been really interesting to watch. Dad stays nearby and then flies along with him as he wonkily heads back to the stand with his catch. All 3 are on the stand this morning.
Lift off occurred and within 24 hours he was flying around, not very well but this guy has been faster than the previous fledges taking off and staying off the nest. Both parents are still around but one of them tends to disappear for almost the entire day each day (Mom?)
Hopefully I'll grab some shots this week but they have continued to feather the nest but mom hasn't been out of the stand in over a week. Dad shows up regularly with fish & spends time sitting within 10 feet of the stand on the ground. I've seen them switch places in the nest so mom can spread her wings.
They spent last week mating and as of today, she's not left the nest for two days. She's sitting low in the bowl, just her head is peeking out. Dad is sitting on the ground about 10 feet away, it's extremly windy today
Ben & his compatriots from Lacey Middle School pulled the stand upright and added braces. The pair are making good use of the perches now that they don't have to worry about sliding off. Thanks, Ben!
Happy Easter! Woke up this morning to find an Osprey perched on the side of the stand. While outside with the dogs he swooped down the lagoon. Will watch this week to see which of the 3 stands in the area he chooses.
Saw one VERY small head pop up from the nest today. I figure these two laid their eggs at least 10-14 days behind the Osprey Cam pair. This nest produced two young last year. The one chick I did appear to my novice eyes to be very small. Mom was moving nest material around the nest while the chick kept raising up and stretching. Dad took off to find fish at this time.
Mom is raising herself higher in the nest and both parents have been seen in the nest appearing to feed the young. At this time, it appears there are two small heads but it's still too early to tell. They appear to be doing well.
Based on her posture in the stand I believe she's hatched her eggs. No idea how many at this point. More to come as they grow! The eagle has been around very sporadically but it's haunted by every bird in the wetlands. They always manage to chase him off. Hope he has plenty food in the Game Reserve where I believe he lives. Maybe that's why Nest# 3356 is never occupied by Osprey?
Mom continues to lie low in the nest. A goodly amount of the trash they brought to the nest has blown away. Dad has many perches along the waters edge for fishing and spends a good part of his day flying back and forth to the nest with food for her. All is well thus far!
All appears well. She's so low in the nest it's difficult to discern her presence some days. Dad if fishing up a storm and fighting off multiple birds for his fish. Today, we had a huge bald eagle in the wetlands. He grabbed a gull midair. Settled down to eat far from the Osprey stand but Dad O did do a flyby to let Baldy know he was being watched. Blackbirds terrorized Baldy until he finally departed. Still lots of junk swinging from the stand but for now it appears the worst is hanging below the stand.
She's so low in the nest today you can't even tell she's in there. I'll venture a guess and make today her 1st day of incubation. She's no longer sitting on the perch and calling him for food. The wait begins!
She's staying on the stand but not lying low in the nest yet. Most of the trash has blown off the stand. They have added more organic material to the nest as the sides appear to have a bit more height
Even more trash added to the nest. I wish I had a magic wand to make it all disappear. There is all matter of trash blowing in the wind off of the stand/nest. It was very windy this afternoon, he attempted to mate, she wasn't having it!
Appears they've collected more trash for their nest. Not much we can do about it. They were mating again yesterday, she's still leaving the nest so we're assuming no eggs yet. They arrived about 7-10 days after the Osprey Cam pair.
Bunch of junk is hanging off the stand today, can't determine how much is still in the nest itself. Dad has been dropping sticks. Hope the fierce wind off the bay today carries a lot of the trash away.
I don't think they have laid eggs yet, but this morning we noticed there appears to be a minnow trap and some plastic bags/jugs in the nest. I do not have the wherewithal to climb the stand and pull the junk out of the nest, they are staying near the stand but are not in the stand today :(
Overnight they've added new nesting material. I've seen them mating one time in the past several days. Hoping to get out in the boat on Saturday to check this nest and the other two nearby stands.
He's baaaaccccckk! He was on the stand this morning at 7:30am when I left the house. He's sitting on the perch this afternoon. Don't see his mate yet....So excited to see them return, fingers crossed the missus shows up soon!
Mom, Dad and the two kids are still hanging out on the stand and fishing on the edge of the wetlands. We're watching, anticipating but dreading their migration. It's been a blast watching them all summer. The entire neighborhood is going to miss them but with the stand in our neighborhood, we're hoping this will be a yearly event for us. I'll post when they finally depart for warmer climes.
Appears the young'uns are attempting to take flight from the nest. They sit up on the sides and flap their wings, they appear to be able to use their wings to hop around at this point but not much else. Alot of wing flapping but no lift off yet!
Checked on these two after hearing about a nestling falling or being washed out of its' nest after last nights foul weather. Both nestlings are up and about stretching their wings and looking for mom who appears to be sitting on the wildlife sign at the edge of the wetlands watching them.
Was little frightened today when only one nestling appeared to be in the nest but after a 10 minute watch, what I thought was trash ended up being nestling #2 stretching it's wings in the lower portion of the nest. It popped it's funny head up and stretched it's wings while trying not to fall over. Appears all is good in Sunrise Beach nest!
They are growing like weeds! They are more and more noticeable during daylight hours. Mom is almost always on the side of the nests and the chicks spend a lot of time attempting to stand and look out over the top of the nest.
The two nestlings are moving around in the nest and sitting up higher in the nest with each passing day. You can see them stretching their wings thru out the day before Mom has them settle back down inside the nest. Dad is fishing like mad these days.
Sat on my bike with my binoculars for 20 minutes and FINALLY, two small heads popped up looking around! I watched for a third but after 15 minutes I'll confirm 2 and update if that changes. Very exciting stuff here in our neighborhood!
I was able to spot 2 small heads poking up at Mom for food this morning. This new stand was productive this year considering the wind was pretty vicious here this spring.
Dad was sitting at the edge of the wetlands but still in sight of his stand today. The female was sitting on the side of the nest watching her nestlings. Still unable to determine how many she might have.
This morning fish were being brought to and from the nest. Around lunch time it appears a small head was reaching upwards to Mom who was sitting up on the side of the nest. No idea how many have hatched but from their movements it appears at least ONE has hatched.
We're paying closer attention but as of this morning she still seems to be very low in the nest with the male coming and going thru out the day. He's gone most of the afternoon though so I our best guess is that none of the eggs have hatched yet.
She still seems low in the nest without too much movement. Don't think they've hatched yet, but it's gotta be soon! Best thing happened with the last rain storm, the plastic bag that was blown up on the far side finally blew away.
The female is still lying low in the nest. The male is still bringing nest materials to the nest. There is no way for us to know how many eggs she may have but we'll keep a close eye on her movements over the next two weeks. The male is guarding their home, he appears to remain close to the nest circling the immediate area as deems necessary. Last week I did see him flying around the area with two other Osprey who seemed to have moved on as I haven't seen them in the past 7 days.
It appears the female is lying low in the nest and not venturing out of the nest. The male has been standing outside on the perch. Her posture leads us to believe she is sitting upon eggs.
I have two stands rather close to one another. #3355 & #4808. As of yesterday, I believe I saw THREE osprey where two on 4808 attempted to run the third bird away. As of today at 3:15pm, I see one osprey sitting on each stand. Earlier today, the osprey perched on 4808 appeared to be calling for about 15 minutes before a second osprey approached and appeared to have fish in it's talons. He dropped some into the stand (4808) which fell to the ground, the calling osprey dropped down, grabbed whatever was dropped and they flew off together, it was obvious that the osprey that had flown in had a large fish in it's talons. I'll have to keep an eye on both stands over the next few days to determine if we have two nests being built or two osprey hogging up the local housing market!
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