Nesting Diaries
No ospreys observed at this nest during daily checks for past week, however other nests within 2 miles are now hosting 1 or two ospreys. Should be any day.
1420 - Female OSPR on nest, initially silent.
1433 - Female begins food begging call and male arrives to nest. Unable to see if he brought prey. Short observation.
Pair observed today for the first time this year.
One OSPR observed on nest at 0845 today. First of year.
No OSPR seen at this nest so far this year.
First day osprey pair observed on bridge where nest is located. Daily site checks during previous week saw no ospreys.
Two osprey on nest - first observation of pair this year. (CAGO now gone). One of the osprey is consistently calling while standing next to mate.
Nest has one Canada Goose on nest. One osprey flies by nest, which causes the goose to wing-flap, but it does not depart. The osprey flies 200 m south then returns and land briefly on bridge 10 m from nest. CAGO stands but stays. Osprey drifts north, hunting. Five minutes later the osprey returns and lands on the SW corner of the bridge, but departs 10 minutes later.
No osprey observed at or near nest today.
First sighting of nestlings (2) today. Nestlings are dark headed, and able to sit erect while being fed. Therefore I am estimating hatching 10 days ago.
After daily observations for this past week, the first Osprey was observed on the nest this afternoon. Only one bird so far.
First fledgling lifted off nest on Jul 27th. Second juv seen off nest this morning. Both are perched on bridge girders away from nest.
Two nestlings seen being fed by female after male delivered half of a relatively large star flounder to the nest. Hatching date unknown.
Access to only observation point denied due to the preparation for and conduct of the US Open golf tournament at the adjacent golf course.
1630 - Female is in incubation posture. Male brings fish (star flounder) back to bridge and eats half, then delivers other half to female. She takes it off the nest to eat and the male assumes incubation position.
No incubation yet. Both ospreys continue to perch on or near the nest unless hunting. Watched the male make 3 unsuccessful plunges in 5 minutes yesterday, then return to the bridge and preen.
04/01/15 - 0730 - Brief observation. Osprey pair copulating on nest. 1425 - Brief observation. Osprey pair copulating on nest.
3/31/2015 - 3PM - First observation of ospreys near the nest. During next 30 minutes, observed one OSPR catch and eat a medium sized fish. While doing so, another OSPR arrived at nest.
Yesterday, 04/25/14 - female continues incubation. Male observed departing bridge and returning with medium sized stick. He lands and proceeds to arrange nest material around incubating female, at times sticking his "undertail" area directly in her face. Today, I observed the male return to the nest with a small clump of vegetation and place it next to the incubating female, seemingly tamping it down with his feet, then fly off the next to perch on the other end of the bridge.
First incubation observed on 4/18/14. Pair was not incubating on 4/15/14. No observations for 4/16 or 4/17.
At some time prior to the middle of March of this year, railroad employees removed the nest from the top of this bridge. I was out of the area from March 21 through April 2. When I last observed the bridge on 3/21, there was no nesting material on the bridge and no Osprey were seen in the area. Upon my return on 4/2, the Osprey had returned and had begun construction of a new nest on the north end of the bridge. Only a base layer of sticks were present. I estimate that the pair of ospreys had returned approximately 4/1/14, although the exact date is not known.
Last year (2013), I was out of the area during the time the 2 hatchlings fledged. They were seen on the nest on 7/08/13. I returned at the end of July and observed 2 juvenile Osprey in the area of the bridge. I cannot determine the date of fledging.
04/15/2013 - 5PM. 15 minute observation. Female standing on edge of nest. No incubation. Male perched on SE top ladder. No activity during observation. End 5:15PM.
04/13/2013 - 4PM. Female standing on edge of nest. No incubation. Male on NE bridge lower ladder. Male leaves bridge un-noticed.
4:05 PM - Female begins calling, and male re-appears, kiting in from high above. Goes directly to nest, lands on female and copulates. Male flies off and circles back to land on bridge top girder 20 meters from nest. No incubation.
04/11/2013 - 5:15 PM Female OSPR standing on edge of nest. Male feeding on a large flounder on NE ladder of bridge. Female persistently calling. 5:30 PM - Male delivers 1/2 fish to female at nest. Female takes fish off nest and feeds on NE ladder. Male remains on nest, re-arranging sticks. 5:34 PM - Bridge raised for boat, female flies to north telephone pole and continues feeding. Male remains at nest. 5:36 PM - Bridge down. 5:40 PM - Female returns to SW bridge railing and continues feeding. 5:52 PM - End obs. No change. No incubation.
04/06/2013- 4:15 PM Female bringing small nest materials to nest and re-arranging larger sticks while male perches on bridge. At 4:21, female calls, flies up and around nest as a flock of gulls circles over the bridge and lands back on nest. Male flies over and copulates with female before flying off to perch on pole to north of bridge. Female remains on nest, but not in incubation position, until end of observation at 4:30PM.
I was out of the country for most of June. Upon return I observed on 4/29/12 that both adults were away from nest and feeding themselves. No attention to nest and no visits to nest during my 2 hour observation. Appears nest has failed. Reason for nest failure is unknown.
Have been watching incubation almost daily. Up until yesterday, the female was still eating away from the nest. On afternoon of 5/30/12, the female was observed feeding a nestling (unseen in the nest) for the first time.
From 4/3/12 thru 4/23/12, nest observed on 15 of those 20 days for a total of 14 hours. Observed 9 more copulations, latest being 4/18. On 4/20 obs, neither bird was incubating. Did not observe nest on 4/21 or 4/22. This morning, 4/23, female was in incubation position, laying flat in nest bowl, barely visible over nest edge. A second obs at 1500 showed fem alternating incubation position with standing over eggs with head down apparently adjusting them. It is not possible to see into the nest, so unable to determine date of egg laying or number of eggs.
Another copulation was observed at 4:17PM on April 2, 2012, this time in the nest.
Correction: copulation occurred yesterday, 4/1/12.
Nest repair/addition appears complete.
Copulation at 2:30PM on bridge top railing, about 50 feet from nest.
Single Osprey seen at nest on 3/24/12. Pair seen bringing sticks to nest and sharing food on bridge on 3/26/12
Looking back in my notes, I recorded on Mar 20, 2007, this nest had been removed by railroad personnel. However, my note entry for May 8, 2007 states that the nest had been rebuilt and was occupied. After intervention by WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife personnel, the nest has not been disturbed since then. Railroad personnel placed 4 owl decoys on the top corners of the bridge in 2007, but all decoys have since been decapitated (assumed by bird attacks), and are not any deterrent to the osprey nest.
I first discovered this nest on June 22, 2006, when I observed one Osprey on the nest and another flying in with a large stick. I do not know how long this nest has existed before this date. It has been in use every year since.
I have been checking the nest daily since March 9th. No Osprey have been seen in the area. Usual arrival date in this part of the state is around April 1st.