Nickname
083-B-040
Coordinates
(40.2902, -73.9933)
Substrate
Light Tower
Description
The nest is located on top of the southwest stadium light, on the visitors side of the football field.
Followers
None
Monitoring groups
What to look for
a
Adult Arrival
Look for 2 adults on the nest. The adult pair will show pair bonding behaviors such as vocalizations, aerial sky dances, and the male feeding the female fish. You may see the pair copulating, which typically begins 14 days before laying eggs.b
Incubation Initiation
Females will lay 1 - 4 eggs at a rate of one egg every 1 - 2 days. After laying, incubation starts. Look for adults taking turns sitting low in the nest incubating eggs. The incubation period can last 35 - 43 days.c
Clutch Hatching
Chicks hatch ~39 days after incubation begins. Look for adults bringing food to the nest and making "head bows" into the center. Chicks typically can't be seen until they are 2 - 3 weeks old, so feeding behavior is the only way to know chicks are there.d
Nestling Count
Around 4 weeks after hatching, look for the heads of chicks to show over the rim of the nest, particularly when adults bring food to the nest. Other times they lie flat and are harder to see. Count the number of chicks in the nest before they learn to flye
Fledgling Count
Chicks begin flying around 7 - 8 weeks old, and are still fed by the adults. Count the number of chicks who have successfully fledged the nest and are observed flying.f
Chick Last Observed
4 - 10 weeks after fledging, chicks begin leaving the nest area to migrate south, once they have learned to fly and feed themselves. Record the date that the last chick left the nest.x
Nest Failure
Look for signs of nest failure like adult abandonment, adults no longer incubating eggs or feeding young.Review All Observations
| 2023 - LNR | 2022 - LNR | 2021 - LNR | 2016 - Gunny | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| aAdult Arrival | 3/28/23 | 3/20/22 | 3/27/21 | |
| aOccupied | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| aActive | ||||
| bEgg Laying | ||||
| bIncubation Initiation | 4/13/21 | |||
| cClutch Hatching | ||||
| dNestlings | 1 | 1 | ||
| eFledglings | 1 | |||
| eFirst Chick Fledging | 7/17/21 | |||
| fChicks Last Observed | ||||
| xNest Failure | 7/2/22 | |||
| xReason For Nest Failure | nest destroyed during storm |
Select Seasons
Show reports, diaries, and photos from:Current 2022 2021 2017 2016
Activity reports
2016 Nest Activity Report by Gunny
| Adult arrival | Nestlings | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nest Occupied | Yes | Fledglings | |
| Nest Active | First chick fledging | ||
| Egg laying | Chicks last observed | ||
| Incubation initiation | Nest failure | ||
| Clutch hatching | Reason for nest failure |
2021 Nest Activity Report by LNR
| Adult arrival | 03/27/2021 | Nestlings | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nest Occupied | Yes | Fledglings | 1 |
| Nest Active | First chick fledging | 07/17/2021 | |
| Egg laying | Chicks last observed | ||
| Incubation initiation | 04/13/2021 | Nest failure | |
| Clutch hatching | Reason for nest failure |
2022 Nest Activity Report by LNR
| Adult arrival | 03/20/2022 | Nestlings | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nest Occupied | Yes | Fledglings | |
| Nest Active | First chick fledging | ||
| Egg laying | Chicks last observed | ||
| Incubation initiation | Nest failure | 07/02/2022 | |
| Clutch hatching | Reason for nest failure | nest destroyed during storm |
Nest Activity Report by LNR
| Adult arrival | 03/28/2023 | Nestlings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nest Occupied | Yes | Fledglings | |
| Nest Active | First chick fledging | ||
| Egg laying | Chicks last observed | ||
| Incubation initiation | Nest failure | ||
| Clutch hatching | Reason for nest failure |
Photos of this nest
Nesting Diaries
04/05/2023 by LNR
The osprey have spent a good deal of energy this last week working on rebuilding their nest. The male was observed making 4 or 5 trips back with branches during a couple of 15 minute observation times during the week. The female made shorter, less frequent flights to pick up some nearby sticks. Once when they both were away from the nest another osprey flew by, poached a large stick from the nest and flew off.
03/30/2023 by LNR
3/28/23 Osprey arrived approximately on this date. Their nest is completely gone. given that it survived storms last summer it is possible that it was removed by human intervention, but I have no proof of that.
3/30/23 This evening one osprey was perched on the light fixture where their nest was last year. There are some branches or vines on the fixture that weren't there before but they have to build the nest from scratch.
07/16/2022 by LNR
Around 7 AM, both birds were still around the football field. One was eating a fish on a light fixture on the opposite side of the field from the nest. The other bird brought some nesting materials to the post diagonally across the field from the nest. In the 15 minutes I watched, it made 4 trips in with mostly small branches. There was not much nest material on the pole so the bird may not have been doing a lot of bringing in materials at other times.
07/04/2022 by LNR
There was a severe storm the evening of 7/2/22 with driving rain (1 inch in about 20 minutes), high winds, and hail. I believe the chick died as a result. On 7/3 both adult birds were present on light fixtures on the opposite side of the field. On 7/4 both adults were present on light fixtures other than the nest light. Around 7 am the male flew down to the field, picked up a stick and flew to the light where the female was perched. Later in the morning both adults were on a different light fixture with a small twig next to them.
06/28/2022 by LNR
Around 7 AM one adult (presumably male) was on a light fixture across from the nest eating a freshly caught fish--the fish's tail appeared to be thrashing. The other was at the nest. Eventually the fish was delivered to the nest at which point one chick became visible. In 3-4 visits this week I have only seen one chick.
06/22/2022 by LNR
The nest is active. The female was perched on the side of the nest and today was the first time I saw the top of a juvenile's head. It remains to be seen whether there is more than one juvenile. The male was not present at the time of the visit.
04/26/2022 by LNR
The osprey arrived sometime between 3/12/2022 when none were present and 3/22/2022 when two were observed at the stadium. On 4/2/22 and 4/9/22they were observed copulating at the nest. By 4/23/22 the female appears to be incubating, but since I made no observations in the the last two weeks I have no information on when she began.
08/01/2021 by LNR
All three ospreys were present this morning around 7AM. The fledgling was at the nest enjoying fish breakfast. After it was finished it flew to a lower light fixture for a while, then flew to one of the high lights. Most of the flights I observed this week were approximately the height of 2 - 4 stories of the high school. It moves around the campus and off into the neighborhood. One or both adults remain on nearby light towers.
07/21/2021 by LNR
Date of fledging is approximate. I could not spot the juvenile on 7/20/2021 anywhere and guess it may have been somewhere in the neighborhood. During previous stops earlier in the week the juvenile was at the nest. On 7/17/2021 the juvenile was sitting on the southeast lightpole, south of the pole that supports the nest.
06/27/2021 by LNR
Both adults were at the nest for a while this morning. Female was busy eating a fish. Eventually a chick popped its head up. It did some wing exercises showing its impressive wingspan.
06/15/2021 by LNR
Adults were at nest feeding chicks around 7 am. On 6/13/2021 one chick was up high enough to be spotted as it was being fed. Still impossible to know how many chicks are in the nest.
05/26/2021 by LNR
Eggs should have hatched sometime last week. The nest is too high to tell how many chicks, but the nest was active as of yesterday morning. Adult observed standing high in nest, later moved down where it could not be seen from ground level.
04/17/2021 by LNR
Location of the nest makes it impossible to see if there are eggs, but birds were observed mating today as well as 4/10 and it has been hard to see if there is a bird in the nest. I would guess they are incubating since I can barely see the head at times.