Nesting Diaries
The 4/13 date is arbitrary. The birds were seen engaged in courtship flights and carrying nesting material but a completed nest was never accomplished. I have not seen either adult at the nest since around 04/02/17. The nest is on a sturdy platform but it was almost completely wiped clean by Hurricane Matthew on 10'07/16.
The adults haven't been seen at the nest in 10 days or so. The 2nd chick is seen daily at the nest and yesterday both were sitting in the nest in late afternoon.
I stopped by today, 4/15, and checked the nest. Both adults were there and the female was feeding both chicks, though only one shows in this digiscoped photo.
My best guess for the initiation of incubation was 03/05. The female had been incubating and barely visible in the nest until Thursday, 04/07. On this date the male flew into the nest with a small fish and the female appeared to be feeding a youngster. Though there's no way to be certain of this. Today, 04/10, she was observed getting up and moving about the nest as if there's a hatchling or two in the nest now. Confirmation once the chicks are big enough to be seen above the edge of the nest.
I've been watching this nest almost daily since the 1st of the year. I live nearby and drive by this location 8 to 10 times per week. I saw individual birds there on the side of the nest but never saw a pair. Last Saturday, 3/5/16, I saw an adult sitting in incubation position and now daily since. On Thursday, 3/10, I saw a 2nd adult arrive at the nest carrying a fish and incubation duties were exchanged.
The chick has now fledged but still is in the nest for much of the day. Yesterday, 06/17, I saw the female feed him at the nest.
I first noticed behavior consistent with what I believed to be hatching on Wed., 4/15 but from my vantage point I'm unable to see into the nest. Yesterday, 4/26, I saw a chick's head above the edge of the nest for the first time. It was clear from the behavior of the adults when one would return to the nest with a fish that they were feeding something down in the nest that was too small to be seen from down on the ground.
2/8/15 is the first date I saw both adults at the nest. Site was used for roosting during winter months by what appeared to be one of last year's offspring. 3/12 was the date I first saw incubation activity.
After an initial nesting failure, a pair of birds began to refurbish the nest and was first seen at the nest on 5/8. On 5/13 copulation was observed while I was pumping gas into my car at the nearby convenience store.
Wednesday, 3/26 was the last day I saw an adult incubating. It's possible the eggs were damaged by the adults since the nest was very shallow and the birds had spent little if any time refurbishing the nest.
Today is the first time I've observed incubation since the birds came back.
On 3/5/14, while stopped at the nearby traffic light I witnessed copulation. The nest is still in disrepair and no doubt the birds will be working on refurbishing it.
Even after the 07/20 date the youngster was seen periodically in the area. Sometimes in the nest eating a fish he brought in. In the past 10 days, beginning about 09/25, an adult was seen carrying nesting material into the nest. However, I have not seen any activity there in the past 3 days.
Today, as has been the case for the past 4 or 5 days, Jr. is on his own at the nest. I haven't seen either adult in a week or more. Jr. was eating a fairly large fish that I assume he caught himself. He stays around the area and has been sitting on the nest and a nearby parking lot light pole.
I was by the nest this afternoon and Jr. isn't so "junior" any more. he's the size of his parents, though the male hasn't been seen at the nest in some time. The female brings a fish and leaves it for Jr. to consume by himself. She returns to the nest around sundown. So far I've yet to see the chick trying out his wings.
I've posted a photo taken about an hour ago. It's now 16:57 on Friday, 5/10. Jr. looks to be doing fine. I watched Mom feeding him yesterday and this afternoon she left the nest and flew out over a nearby retention pond before returning within a few minutes. I don't know if this is the first time the little one has been left on his own since hatching or not.
I'm doing some educated guessing when I say that the clutch hatching took place on 04/08. This is based on the fact that it's been more than adequate time since incubation began and the fact that the adult is sitting higher in the nest and looking down frequently, as if tending to a nestling. So far I've not witnessed feeding behavior but no doubt I will soon.
Incubation has been going on for 33 days. There should be little ones up there in the next day or so.
I first saw one of the birds in the nest back in mid January. I saw single birds in or near the nest almost daily from then on. Feb. 21st was the first time I saw both adults in the nest. One or both birds were often perched on the edge of the nest but there was no other sign of courtship that I saw. On March 6th I saw the female in obvious incubation position for the first time.
This will be my last post for this nest. On two occasions now I've seen the fledged young bird sitting in the nest. The first time he was eating what I assume was a fish. Was it one he caught himself in the nearby lake or one brought to him by an adult I couldn't find when the observation was made? Since he/she (there seem to be "necklace" markings across the upper chest) fledged from the nest I haven't seen or heard the adults in the area. Since the nest has been used in the past, I expect it will be again. When it is I'll be back with its story.
Yesterday, 7/1/12, I was pumping gas at the station across from the nest and saw that the chick had fledged from the nest.
This nest is just outside the boundaries of the block I worked this morning for the Florida BBA II. The chick is now nearly the size of its parents, feeding well and should fledge any day now.
As my post of 6/13 indicates, there's only one chick in the nest now. Was it nest fratricide? Was it one of the Swallow-tailed Kites I've seen floating through the area snatching a chick left unattended? There's no sign of the other chick on the ground but that doesn't mean it wasn't there at some point.
The chick continues to grow and is about half the size of the adults. I'll post a photo on my next update.
Again, having been out of town for nearly 2 weeks, I was thinking that the nest had been in incubation for too long a period of time. Now, based on finally seeing the chicks appear above the edge of the nest, I'm estimating that they hatched out on 4/27. The larger of the 2 chicks appears to me to be about 10 days old. They appear healthy and were being shaded from the hot sun by the female when I saw them yesterday, 5/4/12. I'll try to get some digiscoped photos in a day or two.
After being out of town for just over a week, I was worried at first that the nest had failed. I looked from several angles but was unable to see the female incubating. Finally, I got to just the right spot and saw that she was indeed up there. This was just a brief visit while on my way to the store. No doubt had I been observing longer, I'd have seen her rise to turn the eggs or seen her mate return with food.
On Sunday, 3/4/12, I again saw copulation. Then yesterday, 3/5, while pumping gas at a nearby jiffy store, I saw that the female was down in the classic incubation position.