Nesting Diaries
7/18/2023, sunny, hot, and humid; 85 degrees. Upon arrival, after checking on the Learners Osprey nest, I turned my attention to this Learners 2 nest. I was able to see the adult female and one nestling in/on the nest. Both remained this way for a period of time. After fifteen minutes, I observed the adult male Osprey flying overhead, circling the tree lined area where the nest is located. The male eventually landed at the top of a tree near the light pole with the nest. He remained perched in the tree. The adult female Osprey and nestling stayed-put but did reposition themselves in the nest a few times. As reflected in the diary entry for Learners, at one point, four Osprey were flying above; two seemed to be involved in some type of challenge as they flew for position, often diving high/low and coming close together. After watching for awhile, I determined one Osprey was the adult female from Learners nest and the other the adult male from Learners 2 nest. The other two Osprey seemed to fly in from a totally different location.
Even with all this activity going on, I was still able to check on the nest. Again, the adult female and nestling remained on the nest. I don't believe this nestling is as close to fledging as the nestling in the Learners nest.
6/25/2023, 10:00 am, clear skies, HOT and HUMID, 80 degrees. Observed the adult female Osprey perched on the edge of the nest. No adult male Osprey was observed today. Throughout my observation, I was able to see one nestling bobbing up and down from in the nest. As the nestling came up, it would lean in to the adult female; the female would lean over and give the nestling what appeared to be, a brief nudge. The nestling would retreat back down in to the nest; a minute or so later, the nestling would bob-up again and lean in to the adult female, who would repeat the action of nudging the nestling. This went on for several minutes at different times throughout my observation. After an hour, the activity stopped and all was quiet. I ended my observation.
6/10/2023, 11:00 am, hazy skies, 74 degrees. Able to observe both Learners #2 nest and Learners nest (diary for Learners nest is separate). Upon arrival, I observed the adult female Osprey slowly walking around the edge of the nest and periodically leaning in to the nest. On closer observation, I was able to see the female tearing small pieces of fish as she leaned in to the nest. She would tear a piece of fish and eat as she walked around the edge of the nest; she repeated this action a number of times. When she was done, the female Osprey perched on the edge of the nest and remained there for the remainder of my visit. No other activity was observed; did not observe the male Osprey in the area today.
5/6/2023, 11:30 am, 68 degrees, sunny with high clouds. Upon arrival to observe Learners Nest 2 (and the original Learners Nest), I observed the female Osprey resting quietly on the nest; I assumed she was incubating. The nest is flat and not very deep so an observer can easily see nearly the entire body of the female Osprey as she incubates the egg(s). The female remained in this position for the entire visit (11:30-12:15). No other activity was observed; I did not observe the male Osprey at the nest or nearby, nor did I hear any calls.
05/01/2023 by maw
5/1/2023 by MAW 5/1/2023; 4:20pm; 63 degrees. Today was very windy with clouds and some sun. I watched and observed both osprey nests - Learners and Learners 2. There was an osprey in each nest. Each osprey was down low in her/his nest. I observed for an hour and during that time there was almost no activity. In our Learners 2 nest the osprey stayed there (low in the nest) the entire time with no other bird flying in or leaving. In our Learners nest that osprey sat in the nest for 45 minutes and then she flew a quick loop towards the east and returned to her nest after a minute or two of flying. No other activity was noted.
04/17/2023, 4:30 pm, 72 degrees. Upon arrival to observe this nest, "Learners 2," and the "Learners" nest, were able to see both female and male osprey laying side by side in the nest (female lower in the nest). While trying to keep watch on both nests, we turned to see the male osprey fly from the nest, circle a few times then disappear behind trees in the distance. We were able to observe the female osprey getting up from the nest, turn, and then lower the front part of her body (back-end in the air), and make movements that we determined were her turning her eggs. A few minutes later, she settled back into the nest. We kept watch for the return of the male osprey but did not see him. However, as we were alternating our observation between the two nests, we missed seeing the male osprey return; as we looked away from the Learners nest, we discovered both the male and female osprey in the Learners 2 nest. After several minutes, the male osprey flew from the nest; we watched him fly behind the trees and then disappear from sight. The female osprey remained in the nest for the remainder of our observation.
3/26/2023, 11:00 am; 72 degrees, clear and sunny with some wispy clouds. On arrival, observed one male Osprey perched in a tree nearer to the original Learners nest. Nothing observed on this nest, Learners #2. Continued to observe and scan the trees nearer to this nest but did not see anything. After about fifteen minutes, I noticed two Turkey vultures flying overhead. Nothing else observed at this nest for the rest of the observation.
Refer to diary entry for original Learners as separate observation.
3/18/2023, 11:25 am; 50 degrees, cloudy, windy. At the end of the 2022 Osprey season, I noticed what appeared to be an additional messy Osprey nest on a different field light pole located behind the elementary school. No Osprey or activity was noted at the time. However, today, as I was observing Learners Nest #, I scanned over to this second location and observed an adult Osprey perched on this nest! As I focused on the Osprey, I observed a second adult Osprey flying in and landing on the nest. Both a female and male Osprey were horizontally perched side-by-side, on this very "flat" nest. The two Osprey remained on the nest in their positions for the next thirty minutes. In the meantime, I went back to observing original Learners nest #5484 (refer to Diary post for #5484)
At 12:05 pm, observed adult female Osprey perched on nest. I could hear the Osprey calling loudly. I also observed female re-positioning herself in/on the nest. At 12:20 pm, the male Osprey flew in with a large stick and placed it on the nest, then perched next to the female Osprey. Observation of both nests ended at 12:30 pm.
Note: I have added this Osprey nest to Osprey Watch #9071 - Learners #2