Old Dover High School (1 Pat Lynn Drive, Dover, DE) stadium on top of the northeast stadium light pole. Nest was active in 2013 and 2014, but not before then. Monitoring began in 2015.
1500 hrs: an adult was observed in the original (NE light pole) nest; about an hour later that nest was unoccupied but the nearby nest (SE light pole) had an adult in it.
1700-1730 hrs: female in nest (NE light pole) chirping while male was on top of opposite (NW) light pole feeding on a fish. I have observed this behavior countless times over the last five years. However, no additional chirping coming from the nest, no fledglings were ever viewed, and I think this was a year of nest failure. The newly constructed nest on the SE light pole has been little-used and I have not observed any adults on or near this nest in the last week.
0730 hrs: no adult activity on or near the original nest, BUT the second nest (on the light post 300 ft SSE of the original nest) had an adult on the rim of the nest. I cannot tell if this is the same adult from the original nest or a new adult. Through further observation I will attempt to determine whether this new nest produced any fledglings.
1700 hrs: an adult on the rim of the nest moved over to the top of the light post and appeared to be eating a fish.
A few weeks ago I noticed that another nest was constructed on top of the light post that is 300 ft SSE of the current nest.
1300 hrs: female adult on rim of nest but no fledgling activity observed; in the last couple of weeks both adults have spent long periods of time away from the nest; I do not believe the clutch, if there was one, was successful this year; no sign of fledglings or feeding behavior from the adults.
1100 hrs: adult female in nest bowl chirping, adult male on opposite light post with fish and three (3) other ospreys circling above the nest, one getting quite close but neither the resident male or female reacted except for the female chirping. The three circling ospreys left the area after about 10 minutes.
0730 hrs: nest is still active but adults and juvenile spend long periods of the day away from the nest; I can hear their chirping in the vicinity of Silver Lake.
0800 hrs: while the male adult was on the opposite light post eating a fish, the female adult and only chick were flying in close proximity to the nest. Looks like the fledgling is just learning to fly. No other chicks were observed in the nest this season.
1600 hrs: observed female on nest bowl chirping, male on opposite light post eating a fish (this has been a common behavior for the male for the last several years). Fish was partially eaten and then he flew over to the nest and both adults picked pieces off the fish to feed to the chick(s). I only observed one chick during the observation period (the nest bowl has gotten deeper due to new construction). However, it appeared that both adults on opposite sides of the nest were independently feeding a chick or chicks. Once they get older, I will have a firm chick count in the nest this year.
Heard chirping at 0730 hrs and observed two ospreys in the vicinity of the nest. At 1715 hrs I observed a new tree branch in the nest sticking up indicating nest building activity.
0545 hrs: all three ospreys were out of the nest early in the morning and flying in fairly close proximity to the nest. The new fledgling appears to be refining his or her flying techniques with the adults close by.
July 6, 2017 2000 hrs: I observed the female in the nest while the male was flying high above the nest with a fish in his talons and he was chasing two other osprey adults; he held the fish so that it did not interfere with his flight when he dove low at one of the other adults; the lone juvenile popped up during this event and the female in the nest was vocalizing; the juvenile has been flapping its wings and trying to hover above the nest.
Looks like only one chick in the nest this year; last week I observed this chick on the edge of the nest stretching and flapping its wings but not becoming airborne.
1800 hrs: male on opposite light post feeding on a very large fish, dropped remains off at the nest where the female was very low in the nest as if still incubating eggs. No evidence of feeding chicks yet.
On or about April 18, 2017, activity of adults along the sides of the nest ceased and now one adult is low in the bowl (barely visible) incubating the egg(s). Male is frequently observed in the early morning (0730 hrs) perched on the light post opposite the nest. This evening (1815 hrs) I observed an adult pop up in the nest with its head down and moving as if turning the eggs.
Apparently no eggs yet; both adults are away from the nest for long periods; sometimes they return with twigs and the male still frequently perches on the light post opposite of the nest and feeds on a fish from Silver Lake.
0730 hrs: nest building continues with both adults bringing new twigs to the nest; one adult was observed swooping to the ground on the adjacent baseball field and picking up a clump of dead grass; other trips back to the nest included what looked like leaf litter.
1700 hrs: numerous twigs/branches sticking out of nest, the pair has been quite busy the last 24 hours; female in nest chirping while male was perched on the opposite light pole feeding on a fish; I noticed this behavior frequently last year where the male would feed close to but away from the nest and eventually deliver the half-eaten fish to the nest to the female and chicks when they were present.
2017 will mark the fifth year in a row that this nest has been in existence and active. Based on firsthand observation (frequent spring visits to the old Dover High School stadium [2007-2013]), prior to 2013, there was no nest at this location. And although the nest was not officially monitored in 2013 and 2014, a pair was active both years, but no data was collected.
Left town for a western wildland fire assignment in Idaho and upon my return to Dover (09/11/2016) there was no longer any osprey activity in or around the nest.
1800 to 1830 hrs; juveniles are now taking flights away from the nest with the encouragement of the adults; looks like all three offspring have successfully fledged.
1645 to 1730 hrs; male perched on light post several feet from nest; all three juveniles look healthy and almost ready to fledge; each was observed stretching/flapping its wings while perched on the nest bowl edge; each was also observed jumping up and hovering two to five feet above the nest for several seconds and then landing back on the nest bowl edge.
1700 to 1830 hrs; male was observed alone high in the nest and flew off for four minutes leaving the nest unattended and one chick popped its head up; he came back and shortly thereafter the female returned and the male flew off; a second chick was visible and both were stretching their wings; a short while later a third chick popped up and all three were clearly visible with the female high in the nest on the north end; male came back with a huge fish (2/3 the length of his body) and landed on the opposite light pole; female chirped the whole time; male fed for 32 minutes before flying over to the nest with the remaining fish and both fed the chicks; while he was feeding alone, a third osprey flew directly over the male but then left the area.
1700 to 1915 hrs; female was observed high in the nest on the west side, occasionally with wings outstretched as if shading the chick(s); male returned with a fish and the female fed the chick(s) for over a half hour; male flew off and eventually came back with another fish but landed on the opposite light pole and ate the fish; the female eventually settled down into the nest bowl as the sun dropped lower on the horizon.
1640 to 1710 hrs; both adults in the nest; one high in bole and on edge of nest feeding on a fish; the other lower in the nest bowl bobbing up and down feeding chick(s); the adult feeding on the fish on the nest edge eventually flew off to the top of the opposite stadium light pole and just continued eating the fish.
1600 to 1730 hrs; always now one adult low in the nest; during the observation period they switched positions-one low in the nest and other out away from the nest; although for a time one adult was observed circling high above the nest; prior to switching positions, the adult low in the nest briefly flew out of the nest, defficated while in flight, and returned to the nest immediately.
1600 to 1730 hrs; one adult low in the nest got up briefly with its head down and rump up moving a bit for about one minute then back down low in the nest until the end of the observation period leading me to believe there are now eggs in the nest.
1100 to 1200 hrs; both adults high in the nest initally feeding on fish; one flew off and came back some time later with another fish; both were observed high in the nest feeding.
1830 hrs; an abundance of new twigs/branches for the nest; both adults observed in nest; one flew off to the south and chased a pair of bald eagles (that were flying close together) to the west and a few minutes later came back to the nest.
Drama today at 1840 hrs; both ospreys were chasing a bald eagle in the vicinity of the osprey nest; the three flew low over my front yard on Terry Circle and up over my house. Earlier (1805 hrs) a third osprey was observed again in the vicinity of the nest but eventually flew off and left the pair alone. One of the pair had a fish in its talons.
Past Seasons
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Activity reports
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Nesting Diaries