fostered male juvenile still at nest along with the interloper from next door nesting platform #174, competing for adult males fish deliveries, the fostered bird is very entertaining, he loves to flap his wings and jump around on the nest then diving into the water and swooping along the marsh.
fledgling on nearby dining/guard perch at waters-edge at 11 am today, it was looking for fish, later did i trial fly around the nest and landed pretty darn great! this was a fostered egg that was taken illegally off a nest in Berlin MD, kept warm ish for about 11 hours then placed into this nest along with one other recently laid natal egg, a few days later a second natal egg was laid, natal eggs were distinctly different in coloration so it was easy to monitor the eggs and after 50 days only the fostered egg had hatched. the adults were not successful in having chicks in 2019 so there might be a fertility issue with the adults. this chick then gained a fledged sibling last week from the nest next door and was not getting as much food however it appears that it will likely be fishing before the interloping osprey who remains on the nest, appears to be a female and still has not attempted to leave or get her own fish. we definitely made lemonade from the lemon and educated the Berlin property owners on the Fed Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
fledgling from #174 remains at this nest, and it took the fish the adult male brought for the natal/fostered chick, then later momma came in with much smaller breakfast but fosters was able to eat
chick is getting big, i have not seen it wingercising but it has a new step sibling, the fledgling that fledged 2 days ago off the nest next door, it arrived on this nest yesterday and has not left, i havent even seen it fly, so fosters has a friend and competition for fish, i believe fosters to be a male and fledgling interloper a female
nest checked with mirror today as per USFW to check natal egg hatching, just the foster chick in nest with 2 natal eggs not hatched and presumed to be not viable.foster chick look healthy
with permission from USFW I checked the nest today, foster egg has hatched at 37-38 days and appears to be about 2 days old, natal eggs have not hatched and I did not see signs of pipping. hoping all will be viable eggs and all chicks will thrive now that we added a chick to this nest!
This evening this nesting pair became foster parents of an egg from a nest in Berlin MD. People illegally destroyed a nuisance osprey nest on their boat this morning and found a single egg. They placed the egg on their dock. I was called by the bird rescue group to attempt to find a suitable location for the people to place a nesting platform and was asked by F&W to place the egg (kept warm) in a foster nest. Since this was the latest incubating pair and visible from my home, approachable by boat we chose this pair and were glad to see just one egg thus far in the nest. We placed the marked foster egg and will check back to see how it does.removing eggs from nest is illegal and the person can be fined.
lots of off and on eggs? definitely not spending alot of time incubating today, more time standing on the platform corner board. large white plastic hanging off nest today.
both up on nest today fending off another osprey interloper. then one on post and one looking into nest, fussing down into nest for just a second then up again, flew off nest then back and again standing on nest rim. it appears nesting has failed
observed both osprey up on nest then one on nest rim and one on post...it appears the nesting may have failed following 3 days of heavy rain. at time it appears no osprey is on the nest...will wait to confirm
a pair happy on the nest all day yesterday but this morning a third osprey has been battling them hard and so it goes again this season, 3 nest sites just too close together, takes awhile for the dust to settle.
one osprey preening on the platform T perch today but did not stay very long, perhaps an hour..? Next door platform also had an osprey preening. SW winds bringing more osprey to the colony.
2 juveniles and both adults at the nest area today, i also think there may be young visitors here often as this female is very agreeable to juveniles unlike some other adult females...
both adult and 3 fledglings still at the nest regularly with one fledge enjoying a new mound of marsh grass and mussels that broke off the marsh and is perchable at low tide.the fledge sits on the mound to eat. the adult female at this nest allows other fledglings to visit so hard to know which birds are on the nest at any given time.
8 am this morning the adult male was on his favorite satellite perch at the waters edge , with all 3 fledglings on the nest and mom on the platform t perch when one chick took off and did some flybys of the nest and then a series of practice "dives" into the water as if to show off for the family. the fledgling didn't get very deep, just sort of dropped into the water and got its wings wet and then powered up out of the water and over to try to land on dads oerch but dad wouldnt budge so back to the water it went, dropping in again. then eventually it flew back to the nest scattering the other chicks and shaking the water off on all of them. so fun to watch the fledglings learn to be osprey.
finally today the pair seemed busy at the nest and the female was not very deep in the nest, but I still cant say 100% that there are chicks because I did not clearly see feeding..perhaps tomr!
one osprey consistently low in the nest past 2 days. early this morning I watched the female fly in from the back treeline and replaced the male on the nest. she took a few minutes to just stand at the nest and then she gently rocked down into the nest bowl.
female has been digging in the nest a lot, sometimes laying down, but I do not think she is on eggs yet but expecting it very soon. The platform is leaning, and not in my viewing favor. Once I get out on the water I can closely observe this next as well as 663 just next door
The pair is definitely home at this platform. I have been watching them from my home and they are eating fish at the favorite guard pole and fixing the nest. There is now pairs all around them too except for a single osprey at 663 right next door.
Still 2 osprey on the platform but coming and going to the next door platform today...I am pretty sure they are home on this nest but will watch another day.
2 osprey spending most of today on nesting platform..however they seem to be traveling between this site and 663 next door as happens every season till more birds arrive.
end of season: the last adult male sighting was9-3-17. the juvenile hung out for a few more days and was bringing in his own fish and spending time in the far snag where his parents liked to perch.
The first day I could confirm hatchlings was June 2nd but most likely this date is late. It is very hard to see behind the T-perch on the platform unless I take a boat or kayak very close to the nest. I am seeing normal behavior at the nest with the male coming with fish and the female dipping her head down into the nest material. I hope to get a chick count soon.
both birds at the nest most of the time with one on the post and one on the t perch, at sunset both back to the nest. it appears they are doing very well now, no harassing from other osprey.
I had to be patient to call this nest pair arrival. Has been so much squabbling over air space and nest hopping that I was not certain how it would shake down. Now there are pairs on all the platforms in the colony for past 2 days with no fighting so I think they sorted it out. We still have a platform available at Bethany marina but it may go unused as it was empty in 2016.
too much confusion between this nest, 663 and 174 to say if an actual bonded pair is on this nest. I think if there is an osprey that belongs to this nest it is being driven off by the pairs at 663 and 174. stay tuned, just the same issue every year now that a homeowner placed nest 174 too close to this nest site.
At 6:20 pm I see one osprey on this nest and one on nearby CM9 (#6232). Earlier today the osprey from CM 9 was visiting the other close nests in this are but now since I see one on CM9 and this osprey on 662 I can assume a new bird has just arrived today..nice south winds should bring more osprey in next few days
This was the last day I saw both adults at the nest site. They remained throughout the season just as they did in 2015 even though they were not successful in nesting. I sure hope they can get some peace in 2017 and raise a chick or 2.
Just before sunset I confirmed the pair had abandoned the nest. I believe they are in a snag at the closest tree line but not certain because there are a number of birds hanging out in that area. They are no longer on the nest, were not on it all day today. I suspect too much disturbance from the marauding sub adult osprey hanging out in the trees. I did see this pair squabbling around the territory of their nest. Many times I witnessed a third bird flying at the nest and causing the incubating osprey to fly off in defense. This pair abandoned their nest in 2015 also. They are not much closer to the tree line than the 2 other platforms along the same marsh area but for some reason they get more challenge for their nest than the other nesting pairs. Too bad because in earlier 2 seasons they fledged 3.
Well...I am not sure what is happening in this nest. Its always a bit harder for me to see from my home so I need to travel or boat over to check on it. They are apparently still incubating and made it through the past weekend of relentless rain. I saw the one adult up on the nest a bit more today and so its possible there are chicks but I will wait to confirm as I didnt witness the second osprey actually take fish to the nest. I did see it eating on the favorite perch nearby. And with the prior periods of disturbance with no birds on the nest at all for what seemed like long periods of time...there may not be any chicks to hatch. Stay tuned.
Ok I clearly watched this pair switch incubating duties today. Could I have been wrong about the first incubating date? or could they be re-nesting this quickly? I thought research points to a 3 week window before a pair will re-nest.
Hmmm. It looks like one bird is perched on the attached T perch and one is deep in the nest..perhaps incubating. I have no idea what is really happening at this point.
Sad to say but yet again this pair is off their eggs. This happened last season also. I believe the problem is the stray ospreys and sub adults that hang out in the tree line directly behind this nest. This season there is a new snag nest very close by that doesn't have any birds incubating or even a pair on it. But I see them flying around and dive bombing this nesting pair. Doubt they can r-enest at this late date. Better that they do not try.
Finally settled down onto eggs! There is a new snag a few hundred feet into the back marsh of White's Creek Toll Bros. community so perhaps that new pair( sub adult?) is no longer feeling the need to harass this pair.
This pair was not productive during the 2015 season when a new platform was constructed close by and again this year the pair isn't settling in due to marauding birds who dive bomb the nest regularly.
This pair may be under pressure from the sub adults who have arrived and hang out in a nearby tree line. I do see this pair copulating and bringing fish and because of the angle of the platform it is hard to see if they are incubating but it should be any day now!
Of the 3 platforms in this marsh area, #6001 is the southern most nest site and close to the waters edge. It has 2 T perches and 2 old tree trunks (used as "guard posts") jutting up from the marsh near the platform.
Past Seasons
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