Nesting Diaries
2 ospreys moving between this platform and #180 next door, #6784
12:45 2 ospreys on nest, 55 and sunny, N 6 mph winds
one osprey on nest this morning, then on satellite perch with fish this afternoon. assume its the male
adults came and went to nest into mid August
nest appears abandoned today
observed chick feeding but with heavy rains for next few days fingers crossed
2 women with 2 brown dogs in marsh right at nest, both osprey flying over their heads stress calling, but after they finally left one settled on the eggs with one nearby on nest rim
we placed a new guard perch along the waterway and the male has not yet used it, due to heavy wind he seems to stand in the marsh, today was just S 5 mph and I still have not seen him perch on it.
one at nest at 10 am, 62, NNE 5 mph, and sun
one visitor, 43, SSE mph, 100% overcast
ad m on nest this afternoon but cant be sure it belongs there
both adults on nest at sunset
one adult at nest this morning
still see one adult on nest on occasion, usually evening
pair on nest at sunset, also a red wing blackbird on the nest too, bummer for the ospreys, no peace from the little black birds
both adults on nest today no nesting activity but still seeing red wing blackbirds on the nest most of the time
possible fail, unviable eggs as one is always deep in the nest now
pair soon due for chicks, with cooler temps and fewer people hanging out near the platform the pair seems to be doing well with uninterrupted incubating
the pair still spends time together at the nest
i see both infrequently at this nest now and i think its due to the red wing blackbirds that nest in the shrubs under the platform, placement was poor, its not a good idea to put nesting platforms near phragmites and groundsell plants, too many blackbirds will harass until the osprey leave the nest. if that was not the reason for the nest to fail, then i suspect the rains, just like the other 6 nests nearby, heavy heavy rain this season!
not seeing much activity but both adults at nest often with one laying
not seeing feeding behavior but both at nest and one deep at all times i observe
one still very deep in nest, rarely see the second, do not know where the guard perch is as its an open marsh with no poles. i suspect it sits behind the condos for a view of the nest
incubating, second will perch on a low stick at waters edge low tide
lots of activity at nest today, both at nest at sunset
both fixing nest at !0:20 this morning
not that much activity daily, not sure where they perch when not at the nest as they dont have anywhere obvious to hang out other than the platform.
both on v perchs this morning
both osprey at nest today, one fixing the nest and one on the V perch with a fish.
one osprey at nest early this morning
adult male on V of perch past few days, he is staring over at the other remaining males on the east side of creek
adult male has been on the v of this platform off an on past few days, today he was eating a fish around 6 pm
no osprey seen lately, lots of people hanging in the marsh by this platform
still seeing at least one adult osprey on the nest but they dont stay long
both adults still visiting their nest to eat and watch the ospreys in the colony
For over 30 minutes I observed the nest from my boat today. At first I thought I might be mistaken about the nest failing as there was an adult osprey on the nest and looked like it could have been shading. But the red wing blackbird was also there and it started to dive bomb the osprey, landing on its back numerous times, attacking the ospreys head and sitting in the nest beside the osprey. even when the osprey was moving sticks around in the nest bowl the blackbird was attacking it. the osprey just shakes it away but it would seem to be impossible to rear a brood of chicks with the constant harassment.finally the osprey flew up in the air with the blackbird chasing it and osprey left the area. the blackbird returned and sat on the nest V perch for a few miutes then flew away also. This platform is along the creek but placed in an area of heavy growth of groundsel and other bushy vegetation so no doubt the red wing blackbirds are nesting too close to the platform. Something to consider in future platform building projects.
After so much time deep in the nest, today around 6 pm only one was at the nest, and it was just standing on the nest rim. At dusk the nest was empty. This morning both were standing on the nest with a red wing blackbird relentlessly attacking one ospreys back. The black birds are a very bad issue at this nest site due to the close proximity of groundsel plants where red wing blackbirds are known to nest. I think this pair tried to renest unsuccessfully but can not be certain as they seemed to be off and on the nest during the entire 2 plus months.
After so much time deep in the nest, today around 6 pm only one was at the nest, and it was just standing on the nest rim. At dusk the nest was empty. This morning both were standing on the nest with a red wing blackbird relentlessly attacking one ospreys back. The black birds are a very bad issue at this nest site due to the close proximity of groundsel plants where red wing blackbirds are known to nest. I think this pair tried to renest unsuccessfully but can not be certain as they seemed to be off and on the nest during the entire 2 plus months.
more activity today, one hunched in the nest and later again deep in the nest, at 8 pm one perched on the nest rim, can not see other one incubating. this may be a failed nest
one is always very deep in the nest with one visiting and perching on the v perch of the platform. this pairs eggs may not be viable.
one deep and appeared flat in nest today but we have been having heavy rains, still something is not quite right with this nesting pair. possbile re-nest?
looked like possibly chick feeding behavior today with both adults at the nest, at any rate my incubation date is way off!!!
not sure what if anything is happening in the nest but i do see one deep every day..and a second having fish on the nearby pole.there should be chicks if my incubation date was correct but so far no signs of hatching
the pair appears to continue incubation even with 7 days of heavy rain. at least there are no clammers and crabbers at the platform...
much busyness deep in the nest this morning with both spending time on the nest. i expect incubation soon.
incubation! one on the nest at 7:00 pm- very deep down all day during the entire heavy rain storm. ENE wind 16 mph, med visibility off and on, I am thankful for my great home office view but also the white head of the osprey and my spotting scope!
one digging in the nest, one on the nearby low dining pole with fish at low tide today
confirmed both osprey on nest just after sunrise this morning and at 7:30 am one brought nest material and the other fixed it int the nest. as usual they also have some large piece of plastic in the nest too.
2 osprey at the platform at 2 pm today but there were quite a few flying around the various platforms so I will wait to confirm this pairs arrival date.
last adult osprey sighting at this harassed platform was8-11-17. I think they did come after this date but the people were hanging out at the platform so often it drove the birds away.
I see one or 2 adults at the nest most days, lots of human activity nearby though so doubt this will ever be a very productive site
As of today one adult is still occasionally deep in the nest apparently still in the incubating phase but then I will see both adults eating at the nest or perched on the V side perches. they wanted a family in the worst way but not to be this year.
one deep in nest once again, occasionally the other one perches on the V perch....hmmmm
both adults on the V perches of the nest tonight after sunset
The adults were caring for the young until June 15 whenI witnessed 2 people at the nest site crabbing along the marsh causing both adult osprey to leave the nest. For over 2 hours the osprey attempted to return to the nest but the people scared them away. Later the nest was still empty of adult osprey when I saw an osprey male land on the nest and eat a fish. he did not feed the chicks. The female arrived and tried to get him off the nest, aggressively diving at him but he did not fly away. The female left and did not return until just before sunset. She has since spent time off and on the nest seemingly incubating again as she is not feeding any chicks. The male comes occasionally but there is not sign of chicks. Another nearby nest has the same situation. I am wondering if the male may have been trying to care for 2 nest sites but I do not know if they would try to tend to 2 nests so close in proximity? Sunset is the best time to confirm nesting pairs and recently neither of the 2 nests has 2 pairs at sunset.
feeding observed today. white plastic bag still flapping around on the edge of the nest. this pair can be highly stressed when people walk on the bay beach about 50 ft from platform and a busy weekend is approaching. will be interesting to see how both this pair and the pair next door fair over Memorial Day.
after seeing the pair off eggs the following day I saw what I thought was resumed incubation so as in seasons past I learn something new the longer I watch osprey. guess they were just hot because today, even with the white plastic bag playing tricks on my eyes I clearly saw the pair on the nest, the male brought the fish and then he watched very attentively as the female fed chick(s). My dates would equal 26 days incubating but of course dates are always just an estimate and the hatchlings may have arrived last week! we are still getting rain with more forcast into next week. Tough start for many osprey babies on the creek!
another possible nest failure. I watched the pair for some time tonight at sunset and both were up on the V perches of the platform. I did see a kayaker spending time very close to the nest today, she was just sitting on the beach within about 50 feet of the nest but I thought I saw one osprey still inside the nest. hope she didn't flush the birds off eggs or nest on such a hot day when they needed shading. will check again tmr. it was 90 degrees and very humid today so I did see a number of incubating osprey getting off eggs for short periods of time, totally normal. and we had so much rain last week that we may be seeing the damaging effects of 3 days of heavy rain on eggs
noticed incubating early this morning. male on V perch but flew off over Bethany Bay toward west and perhaps Indian River, or the ponds of Bethany bay golf course!
very busy pair. lots of fishing and bringing nest material. and since there isn't any vegetation or natural perches near by they are almost always at the nest and they use the v perch quite a bit (NJ design)
this pair is just hanging around, eating and bringing some fish to the perches to eat. I have not seen copulating but I don't watch the nest as regularly as the others in the nearby colony.
today is the first I can confirm a pair on the nest. They may have been together earlier but I had to wait until all the osprey around the nearby platforms were pairs so I can confirm. this is a very dense colony of osprey here on the creek so I am very conservative in calling a nest pair!
one osprey on the nest today.
First visit by a single osprey on this nest today. Did not hang around, most likely a Sandy Cove osprey visiting in the quiet before the season excitement.
I lost track of the adult female after mid august and she probably moved out because there seemed to be fledglings visiting from elsewhere and that will get a mom leaving :) But I did see a fledgling remaining till 9-10-16 and the adult male coming and going about the same time. There was a bird on the nest again on 9-11 and it could have been the fledgling or the adult male, not certain. The family did very well this season even with the increase in nearby beach activity. I hope that my sign at the community center helped to educate the residents to keep their dogs and clamming activities to a minimum so close to the nest. Lets hope 2017 is just as productive!
I would bet the chicks hatched a few days ago but with all the prior weekends rain and then muggy heat past 2 days I didn't really see feeding behavior but today I saw the second osprey bringing fish and both adults very busy and shading in the nest. Unfortunately I also saw a woman running her dog along the beach yesterday 5/31/16 and when she threw a stick closer to the nesting platform the one osprey that was on the perch let out a loud warning call and flew away. The osprey on the nest stayed put. I hope they can tolerate increased disturbance as the summer season truly arrives in the next week or so and in particular I hope no one moors their boat at the nest as they did in 2015.
The pair is still incubating and the bay beach area has been quiet. I visited the community office today and dropped off a flyer explaining the need for people to stay a safe distance back from the nesting platform. The property manager placed it on the community bulletin board and said they will consider signs for next year. :)
A disappointing day today concerning this nest site. I tried to get the community to put up stay back signs until the eggs hatch and there are signs of thriving chicks but their board voted signs down because they don't want the people in the condos to have to look at 2 small signs in the marsh. It is frustrating that osprey platforms can be placed anywhere and there is no concern for the welfare of the birds. The priority here seems to be just being able to say their community has osprey. But for now the pair is incubating and the beach area is quiet and no boats are moored next to the nest.
This pair seems to be incubating....I can watch them from my home. I am hoping they can successfully raise a clutch but as Memorial Day looms and the crush of people arrives all bets are off! Last year the community allowed a boater to moor very close to the platform and the boat owners would walk right up to the nest site and spend long periods of time about 20 f from the nest cleaning and stocking the boat. So far the boat is not there this season.
Again today I watched this pair eating and shuffling around the nest for what seemed like 10 minutes and then one finally sank down deep in the nest to incubate perhaps? This is their first year on this nest and perhaps they aren't quite sure what to do... but I have seen this behavior in past seasons with other pairs and surprised when they have a few healthy chicks!! Guess the eggs are able to be unprotected for short periods of time in warmer weather.
Well, these two are still incubating- I hope. They sure look like all is going ok. I see them switch duties and bringing fish. The guard perch is a no clamming sign nearby instead of the extremely close platform that is empty except for crows and seagulls. I am hoping the community puts up some stay back sogns because the platform is right on a small and usually popular beach and this pair needs to acclimate to so much activity.
This pair was off their eggs for over 10 minutes this morning. I did not see what disturbed them but there is the occasional dog walkers nearby and I am seeing quite a few sub adult osprey entering the picture here on the creek.
The pair is incubating eggs. Time will tell if they are able to stay on the nest with the bay beach extremely close to the marsh platform. The marsh is mowed for access to the beach and used for dog walking and beach combing. This is the first year this pair has nested but they did spend half of 2015 season on the nest. There is now another pair hanging out on a small pier across the creek so it is getting crowded :)
This pair is still just hanging out and bringing fish and copulating. The platform was placed just beside a small beach used by the residents to run their dogs so the birds are flushed off the nest often.
Osprey pair is building up nest material, copulating and one of the pair occasionally perches on the nearby platform. (WPT 180-DE F&W)
This is the 3rd season for this new nest platform. 2015 had a pair of sub adult osprey checking out the nest site. Looks like a keeper for this year! There is a second identical platform ( WPT 180) about 200 feet NW that is used as a guard perch by this pair.