Nesting Diaries
with so many homes going in at Pond acres and the new dock this may get interesting. so far the nearby snag nests appear empty.
Nest #6107 "deldave4" is a duplicate of this nest
one deep in nest but its hatchling time
57, sun with few clouds, E 10 mph, 5 pm, observed female incubating, male flew to fave tree with fish, male rt leg banded as in years past
4 pm, 80, S 20 mph, sun, both osprey perched on the V 's of the platform, looking very comfortable and no other ospreys in the back marsh woods area, so very quiet for now...
all 2 fledglings accounted for in the surrounding trees this afternoon, one with a fish, and adult rt leg banded male in another tree, female in far tree by cul de sac
getting big and very hungry, mombrella today calling for fish
3 active chicks late this afternoon, female on nest calling for fish
most likely hatchling prior to this day but first time seeing feeding behavior!
1 incubating today, did not see mate
rt leg banded male returned
i once thought there might be 3 chicks but a few times i confirmed just 2 so thats the number...for now!
female shading at nest and calling for fish, did not see mate
one deep in nest today, did not see mate
one deep in nest, did not see mate
2 osprey tussling with 2 other osprey, busy air space today
just one osprey, female, at nest site since 3-20-19
one juvenile crying for fish on snag near nest
one juvenile was perched on a very low branch over the pond, it dove into water and came up empty and it was not happy, definitely vocalizing its hunger to itself, 2nd juvenile was in nearby snag close to nest and it had a partially eaten fish, did not see the adult male today.
one juvenile seen on the V perch of the platform today, it was calling softly for fish, did not see adults
3:30 today-1 adult and one juvenile on the nest,one juv with its own fish in a nearby snag, and another juv on far snag.
2 fledglings and 1 adult in various trees surrounding the nest.
2 fledge on nest and one adult on snag today around 10:30 am
Around 6 pm I saw both adults perched in nearby trees, one fledgling on another tree and one apparent large fledgling on edge of nest. few minutes later the third fledgling arrived and landed on the v of the platform.
continuing to see just 2 chicks, today about 5:50 pm 2 chicks visible in the nest with both adults at nearby snags.
2 chicks visible today with male in tree with large fish and female in nest asking for him to bring it to her
2 chicks visible today with male in tree with large fish and female in nest asking for him to bring it to her
3 chicks in the nest alone today at 5 pm. One adult osprey drying its wings on the favored snag nearby. It was calling for its mate or a fish, I could not tell if it was the female or male.
mombrella busy shading with just one chick vis
2 chicks visible around 2 pm today as female was feeding. male was on nearby tree but flew off to chase an interloper in his air space and then off he flew toward the ocean
first day to confirm feeding with male bringing in fish for female and she started feeding immediately
pair is doing well with the female usually deep in the nest and the male guarding the territory from his fave snag nearby, there should be chicks soon
First day to see one deep in the nest. the second osprey not seen but the bulkheading company is still nearby fixing the dock.
One on V perch of platform and the second flew over to the favorite snag. I listened for any other osprey calling near the location of last years close by ( but now downed) snag nest and it was quiet and there was no scuffling...but I am expecting it.
today I confimred both osprey on the nest around 5:15 pm. 45, SE winds at 5 pmh today, clouds with some sunshine. second day of southern winds seems to have finally brought larger numbers of osprey to the county
1 osprey on the favorite snag guard post
end of season: last adult seen, female on 8-31-17
at 4 pm there were 4 fledglings on the nest, 2 were eating fish. it was quite a party.
Both youngsters are doing very well and both adults still at nest.
I am seeing at least one chick, and often neither adult is on the platform instead they sit on the nearby snags. I think it is so they can keep a better eye on the osprey pair in the snag nest behind them
Male on V perch of nest platform and female feeding in the nest
no signs of hatchlings yet although I may be missing it. today female deep in nest and male on a snag with a portion of a fish. nothing happened for over 15 minutes. that's osprey life, sometimes...
the male has been sitting on a new guard snag at the house closest to the platform because the newish snag nest west of them is now huge with both osprey perched on it...I guess I will need to create a new nest ID....
well I don't seem to know anything about this nesting pair:) today I was surprised to see one osprey deep in the nest incubating. there was one other osprey on a nearby snag and the snag nest to the west was empty with no osprey in sight. so I just don't know but I see incubating behavior!
still a bit confusing here. the snag nest just behind this platform regularly has a pair on it and there is quite a bit of territorial squabbling with this nest pair pretty distracted. rarely are they at the nest, they guard the trees between them and the snag nest.
around 4 pm I saw one osprey on the V perch and the other osprey bringing nest material. this is the first I have seen the pair spending time at the nest.
The bonded pair is here but very unsettled. The snag nests across the Salt Pond at the National Guard base came down during the winter and one pair from the downed nest is causing some disturbance, visiting the platform and harassing the female when she is in the nest.
Here is the final 2016 info for this nest: Both chicks fledged about the same day and did well until 9-3-16 when the nesting platform came down after a huge storm. I could never confirm if both fledglings were clear of the nest when it tumbled into the marsh but I am hopeful they were in the snag trees during the storm and since we assume nest came down at night (as per landowners report) the fledglings would not have been on the nest. But after the platform came down I saw just one fledgling at a time perched in nearby snags along with the adult male. After last fledge sighting on 9-4-16 I continued to see the adult male in the nearby guard snag until 9-23-16. We were able to put the platform back up 11-26-16. When it fell it remained intact! Now it is nice and straight and anchored 4 feet deep in the marsh and we hope it stands for many more years to come!
I have rare;y seen any chicks in this nest because of the angle of the platform but today I was finally able to get a good look at the 2 growing chicks. They are not nearly ready to fledge but they are very active and at the stage where they don't know quite what to do with their wings so they sort of flop around the nest. The female adult was standing guard on the nest and attempting to shade them. I did not see the adult male and there were no osprey in the new nearby snag nest that I assume was built by a sub-adult earlier in this season.
One osprey still quietly incubating. I do not see the second osprey today. They still have about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks till hatchlings if all goes well. This location along the Salt Pond does have a nearby kayak launch but I never see anyone close to the platform.
One bird incubating and one bird in the nearby snag "guarding" tree.
One bird incubating, no other birds in sight today. I no longer see the extra bird that was trying to build a nest just behind this nest.
One bird is incubating, one is on the nest and another bird is further back in the snag line and that third bird appears to be attempting a nest on a snag with very little nest material support! Most likely a sub-adult from this nest in prior seasons. It looks like a male but one can never be 100% certain of the birds sex.
These two had a rough time for a few weeks with the many stray osprey hanging out around the Salt Pond and frequent territorial battles at their platform. Their platform is leaning badly and could fall over with high tides and storms. The guard perch is a snag further back into the tree line.