Nesting Diaries
female arrived this morning, male at nest yesterday, eating a fish on the satellite perch hail this morning, 49 degrees, SW winds 8 mph
pair began incubation today and sadly the home construction nearby has resulted in much trash in marsh and being brought to nest, today male brought very long piece of plastic that may be in with eggs, 55, 100% overcast, some rain off and on, E 8 mph
pair fighting with another pair again this season
S 20 mph, 80, sun, pair at nest today, bringing sticks and fending off another pair from the James Farm marsh
bald eagle on nest at 4:30 pm
adult male bringing nest material, 54, sun, WNW 15 mph gusts
rogue male flying over the marsh harassing this female and the female at Sl Gut 1. I believe it belongs to the second year snag nest near private property on Cedar Neck RD next to east side of purple trail of James Farm
2 chicks seen at feeding today
one deep in the nest today, i am assuming incubating...lets see how it goes with 2 interloping pairs frequenting the marsh this season
female on t perch, male on dining perch, no incubating behavior
both up on nest coming and going today with interloper harassing, i think there is no incubating at this time , yesterday was extreme storm that may have forced osprey off eggs? definitley no signs of incubating today though.
2 adult osprey at nest and this female is not left leg banded so i can assume there was a battle and a different pair won the nest for now.
female is left leg banded
there is a new tree nest and pair by this platform, have been seeing up to 8 osprey fighting over the platform, aggression may have been cause of nest failure but with so many storms that can be problematic for the hatchlings too.
no osprey seen at nest site, did not see any feeding behavior around the week of 5-12, do not know why nest failed, could be rain or could be harassment by new snag nest pair along treeline
one inc, one on favorite guard perch eating fish
one incubating with second on branch of live tree that is the favorite tree perch
one on satellite perch, one deep in nest
one very deep in nest, second on nearby guard perch
one very deep in nest, second on nearby guard perch
both on nest in high wind today, day 2 of extreme winds, 35 mph and up
A pair is settling in on the nest today but too early to get out on the water to see if its the same left leg banded female as last season.
one on nest and guard perch since 3-12-19
adult male on satellite perch
one adult on the satellite perch and one fledgling mantling in the nest... or maybe crying and airing out its wings, not sure, it didnt look very happy.
6:45 pm today one adult on the satellite perch and one fledge on the tall t perch of the platform. i could see a few flying amongst the trees but could not ID them
first flyer on the 22nd, all 3 flying today, nest empty at 4:30 pm with lots of air activity above the nest and the cove.
3 chicks laying low in the nest around 4 pm today. one adult perched in the treeline to the east with at least 5 osprey circling high overhead.
both adults seen at the nest during a boat ride today but could not confirm chick count today, possible just 2 seen... few days ago i did see all 3 while in a nearby home that has a great view of the nest.
Boat ride into Beach Cove and over to Joshua Cove to see 3 good looking chicks in this nest, with adult male on satellite perch at waters edge and surprise, the adult female on the nest perch and SHE is LEFT leg banded!!! could she possibly be the same female from prior season BBNC NEW SNAG/PLAT 3 #6335? I will have to look back to prior seasons of this nest site but do not recall another left leg banded female in my group. of course there could be another female here from NJ but since my other female with left leg band never arrived to the nature center and I know there was quite a battle at this site in the spring I believe this may well be the same female! its very close as the crow flies to her old site if this indeed the gal we have been looking for. without a color band or a defining characteristic I will never know. But pretty cool to see this gal today.
first day to confirm chick feeding but i suspected hatchlings a few days ago
11:15, 63, NNW6 mph, rain, fog, day 5 of storms. possibly a hatchling or 2 from the females behavior in the nest... she is hunched over the nest bowl and continually fussing under her chest. With so much rain forecast for next few days I hope this pair can protect their eggs and chicks. the next platform down the marsh has failed in the past week and I am seeing eagle activity in this area.
i patiently waited about 15 minutes today while one osprey moved furniture around deep in the nest, shook off some rain water and then finally settled down deep in the nest with the telltale gentle rocking motion thats says..EGGS!
This pair flew towards the edge of the water today and they both landed at the marsh and sat there for the entire time I was watching this area. The wind was NE 10 mph so i doubt it was the wind making them go low.Always something to learn about osprey- cant say why they liked the time in the marsh but they were very quiet and just hanging out.
Late morning 4 osprey were fighting over the platform. later in the day, around 4 pm 2 were on the platform and 2 were on the slough gut platform next door. I suspect the slough gut pair was challenging this pair and decided to go back to their own home..course I can be making up my own narrative but I did see a pair flying back and forth to both sites a few days ago before all 4 were present.
Both adults at nest yesterday today. At first they were over at Slough Gut tall platform with the female on the nest and the male down in the marsh. Then the female flew to the Joshua Cove platform and the male followed and copulated with her. Today they were playing house and bringing nest material.
end of season- adult female last seen 8-31-17. adult male may still be in the area as I saw him at 5 pm 9-17-17 perched on the platform T perch.
1 fledgling on the satellite pole and 2 fledglings on the nest early this evening. no adults seen.
homeowner called to say she thought a youngster was in trouble, standing in the middle of empty next door lot and adult osprey nearby watching it in tree. she also said an eagle was nearby. When I arrived I see fledgling and adult fly off and do a few pass overs then the fledgling landed on the nest platform with 3 other young! there should only be total of 3 so I assume one fledgling from across the waterway at Beach Cove nest has decided to join the group.in the trees was the local red tail hawk, no eagle in site:) All was well.
Adult male on pole with fish and adult female on nest feeding chicks.
the pair has been busy feeding with the male staying on the nest more now
probable hatchling today, I observed male on platform perch and female very fussy in the nest
one deep in the nest today, should be hatchlings any day now, if not already.
so far so good with this nest. the male likes the 2x4 pole we placed at waters edge close to the platform, keeps him close by unlike last year when he guarded from far back in the tree line
finally we have one osprey incubating, didn't see the mate today. hoping a better outcome this season!
They are busy coming and going and copulating...should incubate soon!
6 pm both birds on the nest and then the female made a few passes over to the pine grove and took pine cones to the nest. the nest looks really nice and built up.
both birds coming and going to nest, hanging on satellite perch. Mar. 30 I saw the female on the nest with the male and suddenly the male took off toward Slough Gut. There are ospreys nearby on that platform and may be some airspace issues!
The morning of the 25th of march my phone was blowing up with texts from landowners that have platforms in sight of the houses. We had a few days of strong south winds and the osprey enjoyed the tail winds!! I confirmed both osprey on the nest at 6 pm and have since seen them enjoying a new 2X4 guard pole that was placed about 50 feet away at the waters edge. No immature bald eagles in sight...thus far. the BE's had been enjoying this nest site...lets see how the season unfolds.
This was the last day both birds were seen and they were eating together on the nest and perch. I do think the rain was the cause of the chicks demise. I hope this pair returns and thrives in 2017.
The adults are still spending time on the nest. Today one was on the nest perch.
Here is a condensed version of the nest failure: 6-1-16, I see one adult apparently incubating. 6-7-16, one adult is on the nest perch and one appears to be incubating. 6-9-16 one adult is down in the nest fussing and appears to have chicks. 6-11-16, I now am certain there are chicks as the female is feeding at least one chick. 6-12-16, 92 degree day and one is shading and other adult standing on nest edge. 6-19-16, I note that at 5pm one adult is in the nest very busy possibly feeding. Later at 7:25 pm there are no adults seen for about 10 minutes and then one arrives to the nest but flies off again. I do not see a second bird in the nearby tree line where they usually guard from. Then another bird arrives with a fish, does a fly around the nest and goes to the tree line leaving the nest empty. I leave and there are no adult ospreys tending the nest before sunset. Next few days I get texts from the nearest homeowner that the birds are indeed on the nest.....
6-24-16, I arrive to find the female perched on a tree in the tree line area the pair used for guarding the nest. The nest is empty. Soon the male arrives to the nest carrying a stick that he drops directly in the middle of the nest and he walks around the center of the nest in a manner that clearly shows there are no longer chicks in the nest. He then flies over to join his female mate in the trees. The only bird I see in the nest is a sparrow perched right on top of the nest. I have never seen that occur when the adults were caring for their young. Sparrows often nest in the osprey nests but down under the nest material, they don't parade around right in an active nest. Sadly I call this nest abandoned and text the nearby homeowner who was so sure the nest was active. In the next week or so I find 2 of the other nests in the same marsh area abandoned. My thoughts are either owl predation, or the high amount of rain fall during that few week period.
Today I checked all nests because of the horrific rainstorm that hit late evening 5/29/16 through late evening 5/30/16. With so many ospreys incubating eggs or worse (in my mind) hatchlings or young chicks possibly exposed to so much water I like to get to all nests.I arrived here around 2pm and was surprised to see no birds anywhere near the nest site! I waited approximately 15 minutes and saw no birds in my line of view. The nest was empty. I was pretty saddened. Later I was told by someone who lives nearby that she observed both birds on the nest at about 3:40pm and one was on the nest perch and one was standing in the nest and then "squirmed down into the nest". I took that to mean the osprey was incubating:) So I returned at 5:07 pm and saw the male arrive to the nest perch carrying a very big fish that he presented to the female via a loud bragging call and then he flew off with the fish to his favorite nearby snag. The female indeed was in the nest incubating. So...I guess she must have left the eggs for some time earlier, perhaps to stretch or to get a fish. Time will tell if it was warm enough to leave the eggs unattended for 15 minutes!
One bird appears to be incubating and fussing deep in the nest. I did not see the second bird today.
Very quiet at the nest today. It was warm, 81 and very humid. One bird was incubating and the second bird was up on the nest perch.No other ospreys in the area and the cove was quiet of boat activity also.
Nice to see both birds today. One is incubating and one is on the nest T perch. On 5/13-16 I did see one incubating and one fighting off another osprey in the vicinity. the platform is located along a bay to ocean migration path!
One incubating. I do come by this nest many times a week as it is on my way to the VFW. Plus I am just rooting for this pair!
One bird in nest incubating. I do not see second bird but it is a very nice balmy day and a jet ski is close by creating the usual constant noise and havoc in the cove. Why do people on jet skis always have to hang out in the quietest bay areas? One would think they would prefer the wave action out in the middle of the bay. But instead they seem to prefer to make their own waves.
Unbelievable! This pair is already incubating, but then they worked so hard at their chimney nest they must have been ready to pop out a few eggs! Seems they were able to handle the visiting nearby nesting ospreys and got their territory settled quickly! So happy and hoping this season they are finally productive!
Relocated pair is bringing nest material and guarding the new nest site from various visiting ospreys...and a family of bald eagles. I watched the adult bald eagle and 2 fledglings sitting on the nearby marsh and then taking turns flying over Joshua Cove with lots of osprey escorts. One of the osprey from Beach Cove was scuffling with new platform birds, got bored, and picked up a plastic bag they had dropped. He flew across the water with the bag billowing against the wind and eventually could not hang on and the bag fluttered to the water. The adult eagle quickly flew to retrieve it, I assume he thought it was food, and then one of his youngsters tried to pick it up also. Most of the time I observed the young eagles sitting in the marsh with many osprey flying overhead for look out! The new pair at this nest may be under pressure with their food so I have seen one fly back to Cove Ct piling at old chimney nest site, apparently to eat fish in peace.
This platform was erected on the property of James Farm Ecological Preserve to attempt to relocate the "chimney" osprey nuisance pair nesting on Cove Ct. (#6016) The chimney at Cove Ct private residence had a deterrent wire placed on it fall of 2015 but this osprey pair had been nesting there for about 3 years and was not at all deterred and in fact was in danger of injury from the loosely placed wires. In 15 minutes following the platforms construction the male landed on it and began calling his mate from the chimney area and she followed him and thus far they are nest building and attempting to thwart off occasional interlopers! Fingers crossed they remain on the platform and do not return to the chimney. Homeowners are not at the home and so no one is clearing the old nest material off the chimney wires. It could still attract either the original pair or a new pair.