Nesting Diaries
moving out of area next month, will be unable to complete my osprey nest monitoring :-(
mom laying in nest, probably still incubating a nonviable egg. dad on nest perch.
mom in nest but no sign of a chick
well, i think this is a failed nest. today, dad was incubating while mom preened on the platform perch. then dad joined mom on the perch. i don't think there is a chick in this nest after all. will wait until my next round to officially call it a failed nest. the other failed nests are in very close proximity to this one; i think the hailstorm in may destroyed the eggs in these nests
boo-hoo, mom looks to be back in incubation position, dad on nest pole, another confusing nest this year!
mom laying in nest, lots of human activity in river beneath the nest, no glimpse of chick yet
mom sitting high in nest bowl this morning,dad flies in, mom stands up, both stand in nest looking down briefly, then dad flies to platform perch and mom lays back down - cool and windy morning!
hmm, mom still appears to be incubating, dad is resting on nest perch
mom incubating, dad on nest perch
mom incubating, dad on platform perch
mom incubating, dad on platform perch
mom incubating, dad on nest perch
mom incubating, dad standing on platform perch
mom incubating, dad on nest perch
pop standing on nest perch, mom eating a fish on her favorite telephone pole - was able to confirm it's the same female by the silver band on her right leg - yay!!!
goose is finally gone, one osprey on nest perch
my favorite nest's fledgling is on his way; i'm praying he has many happy years ahead...
no sign of our fledger today.
one of 4 nests left with a chick nearby. this fledger was on nest pole
fledger standing in nest, saw adult osprey on telephone pole near fishing access, hopefully this chick's parent (dad?)
banded mom on her favorite pole into a huge fish. tried but failed to get a better look at her silver ID band. about 15 minutes later, fledger flies past her and to a small tree next to his nest, food begging. mom continues to eat her fish, but i'm sure she took the bulk of it to her baby after i left.
Parent on nest perch when I arrived, kept looking down at Riverbank, went to check for chick, mom flew away calling, chick joins her and they fly around together! mom returned to nest perch, chick landed on skinny branch of nearby scrawny tree
mom on nest perch, chick standing and preening in nest :-)
mom standing on nest perch, chick laying down in nest. have lost a number of chicks this past week to god knows what, hoping that this little one is just sleeping
mom standing in nest, finishing off a fish. chick laying down, taking a bite now and then. cold and rainy morning
mom and chick but stuffed to the gills, while dad stands guard on nest perch. mom finishing the fish, while chick couldn't accept another bite...
mom standing on nest perch, one chick with a very full crop standing up, preening. i'm very fond of this nest.
dad on nest perch, mom laying in nest, chick popped up once :-)
mom standing in nest, one lazy nestling observed stretching his wings from prone position
mom laying in nest, dad standing on nest pole, dad left shortly thereafter, 1 nestling popped up for a few moments
now this is something i've never seen before. dad and mom both standing in nest, dad has fish, dad breaks off piece of fish and feeds mom, who in turn, feeds the chick (unseen) in the nest bowl. this wasn't just one time, it was 13 bites in a row, and the assembly line was still going when i left! very cool behavior, made my day. still can't verify more than one nestling yet, the bowl is deep...
have to get up early to beat these ospreys! another nest where it appears breakfast is over before 7:30 am - mom is laying in nest, content; dad is finishing a fish on the nest pole
mom is standing in nest eating a fish - what looks to be a very tough fish the way she is fighting with it! dad resting on nest pole, not able to see any chick heads this morning
finally, finally, finally observed mom feeding a chick deep in nest bowl - never saw chick, just observed dad bring in fish, mom take fish, mom begin feeding, dad take his place on nest pole
mom laying in nest, dad eating fish on nest pole, maybe i missed a feeding, but i really can't tell if mom's still incubating or what...
dad on nest post, mom still appears to be incubating
female incubating, male in sky chasing another osprey, who is carrying a fish, away from the area. male finally landed on nest, female got up, both went into defensive postures, intruder w/fish went across road to bother the oldenberg nest.
got back from 2-week vacation to find mom blissfully incubating today.
mom incubating, dad standing on nest perch
finally, an incubation posture!
both standing in the nest this morning
female standing in nest, male on nest perch, no indication of eggs yet
one osprey on nest perch, couldn't tell which one
watched both birds for almost an hour. the male was eating a fish on the nest perch, the female was eating a fish on her favorite telephone pole. it's the female that's banded. i scoped the band and was able to read part of it, reported to bird banding laboratory.
a canada goose uses this nest every year. this is the first year i've seen an osprey pair here. the male osprey has a silver band on his right leg. i'm still monitoring to see if this pair - which seemed to arrive on the nest together - is the pair from the GHO nest up the road a bit, since i haven't seen the GHO pair at their nest for almost a week. or else it's a brand-new pair from somewhere else, although i know the banded male was here last year, too (got a very bad photo of him last season eating a fish at almost the same spot).