Nesting Diaries
adult male on V nest perch today
both adults on nest today
saw no chick activity and nest appeared empty today at noon but at 5:25 I see one adult on the nest perch
watching for hatchling feeding, can not confirm but possibly
63, NNE 5 mph, sun, am, 2on nest together
64, s7mph, sun and clouds, one osprey at nest most of today
fog, 46, ENE 15 mph, one osprey visible at nest most of today
juvie remains at next door nest, #662
fledgling remains at next door nest #662, took the fish the natal adult male brought to nest, leaving fostered but original nestling without breakfast
this fledgling has not joined the fostered chick on nest 662, just next door and doesnt appear to be going home again
i believe dates are off as this chick did not actually fledge until today, saw it helicoptering madly yesterday and then today it flew on to nest after making a go round
one good size chick vis from a distance today
should see feeding behavior but today i saw one trying to get a fish from the other one who then flew off and ate fish in tree, hope this isnt a dead beat male
backdown deep in the this evening
this pair seems to be off and on eggs today, there are 2 other nest site too close, this one was placed illegally without DNREC permission about5 years ago and the 3 pairs tend to fight. currently one of the nearby platforms has what appears to be a new pair that is harassing the 2
other osprey pairs all day long.
the pair spends most of their time on the nest or on the v perches of the platform, they are very quiet and just watching the activity up and down the creek
both continue to hang out at nest
see just one at nest rim today, no signs of egg laying
at least 3 ospreys still tussling for this nest!
one on nest defending against 2 other osprey
3 osprey tussling at this nest area today, they are not settling in possibly due to sub adults or a challenge for the nest
i do not see any signs of incbation unless i simply cant see the head above the nest material. i see one standing on the nest often and last evening 2 osprey were standing at the nest. there are blackbirds using the platform V perches all day and that could spell trouble later on.
still no incubation observed
consistently seeing both at nest, some digging deep now
both at nest this morning
seeing 2 osprey coming and going and being together at the nest since yesterday morning
one on the nest since 3-16-19
one osprey on the V of the platform, can not see if it is adult or juv but i would bet its poppa
well i have seen a juvenile eating on the v of the nest platform past few days so will change my data.
with the distance of the nest from the water and the closeness of other nesting platforms I can no longer be certain which birds are at this nest so I will consider 8-13-18 the last day to see juveniles at this nest.
one juvenile on the V perch of the platform
both fledglings still spending time at the nest with just one adult seen recently
although i cant see this nest as well as some of the others i can see the fledglings coming and going with both adults present so they seem to be doing very well. they have a nice treeline to the west of the nest and thats where the youngsters go to beg the adults for fish. they also fly out over the creek and often i see a large kettle of ospreys now that so many have fledged.
Hard to get a good view of this nest but I can see 2 chicks and lots of feeding and shading
this pair may have hatched chicks earlier than today but this was the first i could really see the female feeding herself and at least one chick. the male remained on the nest with her during the feeding.
if my dates are correct this pair is at about 40 days of incubating and should soon have chicks...but so far i havent seen any signs just one in the nest and one perched on the V.
incubating even with what looks like at least 2 other osprey, possibly sub adults hanging out on the nearby boat roof...uh oh, hope the people arrive before a full blown nest appears there.
gorgeous morning on the creek, wind at just NE 2mph, sunshine,water looks like glass and all the pairs of the colony are finishing breakfast and some switching incubation duties, great time to confirm that this pair was indeed on eggs yesterday. She is sitting a bit high in the nest but certainly on eggs from the telltale egg turning and then rocking down into the nest. Just an amazing day to be on the marsh listening to the sounds of all the bird species enjoying this day.
this evening before sunset the male was on the v perch of the platform with the female digging deep in the nest and sitting very low. I expect incubation very soon
they are on the nest often, with one bringing fish, but no signs of incubation.
I have been seeing osprey on this platform but today I can confirm the pair is at the nest and I saw some bonding/copulating. They have been on the nest most of the day with one occasionally flying to the back tree line but so far they have not be scuffling with the other pairs that are very closeby along the creek.
end of season: I think the juveniles were visitng other nest sites so hard to be sure when they left but I did see the adult male on the nest 9-16-17. he was always there early morning and brought a fish back to eat on the V perch around 8 am.
This nest is hard to see unless I kayak close to it and so I have been waiting until I think chicks will be visible. I can see feeding behavior and the adults with my scope from my home and so far everything looks good.
hatchlings due any day now, normal activity at nest
this pair seems very active in the nest. but from my vantage point I cant be sure whats going on until I get my kayak out on the water...and I will as soon as the winds subside. . NNW 16 mph with gusts all day today, but beautiful clear skies.
The first day I could confirm 2 osprey on this platform was mar. 30. The problem with this platform is that it was placed next to 2 existing platforms and since that time, about 2014, the pairs on the 3 close platforms have fought and sometimes not nested or even seemed to nest hop. This year there seems to be just 2 pairs on the 3 platforms and the pairs have been fighting with other osprey. early morning and sunset the pair is always on this platform.
Today was the last day I saw the adult male on the nest perch. The last fledgling sighting was 8-18-16 and on that day both the adult male and youngster sat on the 2 nest perches together.The female remained with her mate until at least 8-24-16.
One chick has fledged but today I see the second smaller chick exercising madly at the nest:)One adult sits safely on the nest perch.
Today I kayaked back deep into the cove to get a closer look at this family. The 2 growing chicks were huddled under momma hoping for shade relief from this 91* day.
I believe I saw an adult osprey feeding earlier today. Then it was shading. Later near sunset I watched the mate chase an egret away from the marsh area of the platform and then it dipped its feet into the water a series of times each time shaking its feathers like a dog and the sun absolutely glistened off its feathers and created a sparkling arc through the air. it was beautiful. I wish I had filmed it.
Visibility has been poor due to heavy rain but with my scope I can confirm this pair is still incubating. The second bird is most often on the top of the attached V perch when not fishing.
This pair seems to be incubating....hard to tell sometimes because the nest doesn't appear very deep and the birds sit so high on top of it. They seem to get off the eggs alot also...
I finally felt confident to enter incubating date but now this morning I saw 3 nest pairs in the general area all off their eggs, including this pair. I saw a marauding osprey harassing the nests and knocking the birds off eggs. I wonder how long it is safe for the eggs to be exposed in 65 degree temps? The birds got back on eggs, but some were off for over 10 minutes.
This pair was believed to be sub adult for the 2015 nesting season and this year has built their nest up quite a bit but still continues to show no signs of incubating or getting down to serious business. They spend most of the time eating or watching on the 2 perches of their platform. I have not seen copulating although they certainly seem bonded :)
Pair appears to be building nest material and copulating and bringing fish-in other words minding their own business. There are some squirmishes amongst the entire closely nested colony and confusion over who is going to nest on the center channel marker #9 platform since it appears the very mature pair that usually nests on it and arrives very early has not yet arrived. Most of the days the platform remains empty. Quite striking to see after so many years of osprey homemaking at that site.
Marsh platform is the V shape N.J. design. Nest was erected in 2014 on state land by private resident without permission and placed very close to 6009 and 6001. Used as a guard perch by birds from 6009 until 2015 when pair of sub adults set up unsuccessful nesting and harassed pairs on 6009 and 6001. Hoping for calm 2016 nesting season!