Nesting Diaries
O pair may be same pair that nested east of boardwalk past 2 yrs, they are now building up the small snag nest and flying to trees at the Villas where there was once a productive snag nest...
snag nest moved onto Bethany Nature Center property in 2023 but no pair confirmed, maybe a lone male this season or frustration nest by nature center pair
nest no longer exists, pair moved to new platform#6335 at BBNC 2019 season and 2020 season
no activity and no nest remains in tree
no activity seen, i believe this pair is now at BBNC new plat/snag
heard ospreys but did not see any at this live snag nest today
no osprey seen or heard in the area since 8-18-18
both adults circling and landing in the tree area near their snag nest today
no activity anywhere nearby
confirmed no chicks or any activity at the nest again today. i cant know for certain but I believe most likely an eagle or an GHowl tho i bet an owl took the chicks as the closest nest along this wood line is missing 3 chicks also.
7:30 am check of the nest following a night of very heavy rain and wind, nest intact, but possible nest fail as adult female on the snag at BBNC crying for the fish her mate had on the branch below her. unusual to see the 2 adults together away from the nest and most often means the nestlings are gone...no chicks visible in the nest
nice shady nest this evening with female on nest with 2 small fluffy looking chicks visible. did not see or hear male
Female in nest today, not really shading, just standing. I can not see chicks at this early date but it sure looks cool at this nest site due to the nice live tree cover. Did not see male but later when I went to the nature center near this site I could hear the female calling for fish.
female in nest, rearranging her posture and picking deep in the nest. she is due for chick hatching. It appeared though that she rocked back down on eggs. Will check her again tmr.
female in the nest incubating with nest still intact after heavy rain storm all day yesterday
lots of sticks on the ground under the live tree nest, the villas at the tree are all full of seasonal rentals but the female osprey is still deep in the nest and so hidden no one knows she is there!
one deep in the nest today during heavy rain storm
nest is much larger and deeper in appearance now. female harder to see as she was incubating today. the male was taking a few turns around the pine tree grove and calling to the ospreys over at the nature center.
Female is incubating in the small tree nest, she barely fits in the nest bowl.
Female in new tree nest today at 2:15 pm. She was very busy creating her nest bowl, I think incubation is close!
Today the female was stainding in the new tree nest at the Villas of Bethany West. The nest is much larger now, not sure if the tree will hold it for the season.
one female on snag close to last years BBNC new snag #3- at BBNC, calling for mate, then male flew in with nest material and headed to the new nest behind the townhome at Villas of Bethany West and the female flew out over the nature center marsh, grabbed a small pine branch and also went to the nest. This appears to be the new BBNC new snag #3!
not sure if the 2017 pair from this nest site is on one of the platforms but today I observed a pair taking nest material to a live tree behind 743 Clubhouse Lane, Villas of Bethany West. the nest appears to have fallen recently as it is mostly on the ground under the tree.The homeowner states she saw the nest material on 4-25-18. There was no signs of any eggs or nest bowl like material on the ground so I am assuming this pair was in the act of building this new nest when it fell. Will continue to observe.
1:15 today, cold misty day with poor visibility.ENE 14 mph winds. no osprey in this area and no extra osprey bothering the other 2 pairs on nesting platforms except for one female osprey flew by enroute to the home roof nest along Salt Pond.She got one male to chase her.
No ospreys at this general location today but both nearby platforms had osprey pairs present
Thank you for correcting my confusion on this nest.
This activity report and nest photo is incorrect for last years DEAD TREE nest #6402. There is currently no nest remaining at this site ( right of boardwalk as you walk out to end) following strong winter storms and I have not seen a pair in the area. The photo is actually nest #6242, BBNC old snag/old platform that is located just to the left of the boardwalk as you walk out to the end. There are 3 nest entries for the Bethany Beach Nature Center. Please update.
Female moving around on nest and arranging material. Could hear another osprey calling, but not sure if it is mate.
No activity. An immature osprey was observed about 1/4 mile away on picnic shelter.
Last saw the juvenile on top of the nest snag at 5 pm 9-27-17. I checked the site on 9-28-17 and no juveniles in sight. temp 82, NNE 19mph clear skies. great day to migrate. no osprey seen at the Bethany Nature Center past 3 days. godspeed
one juvenile perched on the top branch of nest snag calling softly to a few osprey that flew by to fish in the salt pond. the juvenile opened its wings in the submissive begging posture briefly as they flew over him.
9-23-17 6 pm 1 adult male on snag near walkway with 1 juvenile crying for fish at the nest
9-25-17 noon 1 juvenile on the top branch of nest snag. very quiet.
today the adult male was perched on a snag and was finishing a fish and was just starting to work on the tail when I arrived at the nest area. closer to the nest was one juvenile eating a very large fish and "talking" as he ate as young osprey seem to do. I do not know if the juvenile caught its own fish but would assume as much since the adult was already completing his own fish.
one juvenile crying softly on nest 9-20-17. no adult seen today. last adult male seen 9-19-17 brought fish for one of 2 juveniles at nest
first chick was up on top of the snag on 8-17-17 and next day the second was up on another high branch of the snag. finally they are in the air and the nest is still sort of intact. Phew, it was touch and go for those 2 late nesters. this brings total fledglings at the nature center to 8! Yesterday and today all were present in the trees or on nests and calling for fish. it is a very noisy marsh at the moment but also full of flying joy.
Very bad storm most of the day yesterday. I went to the nature center last evening and saw the nest had fallen down the one side of the snag- a small amount- and I could see just one chick. I was extremely concerned that the second chick had fallen out too because the adult female was clacking loudly, looking straight down below the nest and then circling and calling to her mate ( who I did not see) or the other local ospreys. I saw similar behavior at the other snag nest at the nature center and did not see 3 chicks there either so I had a sleepless night. This morning it was still raining too hard to go out to the site until about 7 Am. Much to my relief and delight all the chicks were accounted for and the females were calm. I think they were just stressed over the intense rain and perhaps hungry and wanting to feed their young but the males were not able to bring enough fish due to the extreme downpours. Some rain today nothing like yesterdays gusher! Snag nests can not withstand such high amounts of rain for such long periods of time- too much weight on a dead hollow tree.
both chicks being fed by adult female today around 5:00 pm. the chicks appear to be about 6 weeks old. the snag nest looks pretty sturdy. we are going to have a heavy rain storm tomorrow with wind. I will check the nest late in the day but it seems very deep and protective as long as the snag does not fall the chicks should be ok.
2 chicks visible Thursday july 27. I checked nest early this morning following severe storms with heavy rain all last night. the nest was still intact but I could only see the adult sitting in the nest. hope to see chicks there after the rains and heavy winds subside. we may have rain for a few days....the nest is falling a bit on one side. chicks need at least few more weeks, possibly closer to 4 to fledge.
female feeding in nest, male on snag next to her
Appear to be incubating but chicks are due
female still deep in nest each time I visit and the rain only degraded the nest a little bit, its hanging down somewhat but hoping it stays put. the male sits very close in a snag and gets his picture taken everyday.
Snag nest looks very good, female deep in nest today, male on his fave perch, guarding from a live tree nearby
female in nest today, male on nearby snag. nest is ready but still no incubation
nest is no at higher point on snag and looks almost large enough to sustain some chicks. both adults coming and going to the nest today, bringing nest material.
female on top of new snag calling for fish but no male in sight. the nest, if one could call it that, is about 1/2 way down the trunk on just 2 branches. I am surprised they aren't attempting to place the nest material at the top where there is a 3 pronged area of branches to hold a nest....this poor pair just cant get a brake. but they have a beautiful place to hang out.
pair is building a new snag nest very close to the original pair of downed nests during season 2016, but now in a much thicker dead tree, really the only remaining snag that might hold a nest.
A lone male is spending time at the snag area. He has a white head with dark diamond on forehead, similar to the male at the new platform nest nextdoor.
while there is no longer a snag nest for the third pair (2016) at the nature center I believe the pair may be here and spending time on the new platform. the left leg banded female from that nest in 2016 has not arrived although her mate is in the area. he is very distinctive and has been on the new platform for over a week. he seems to be letting the other pair onto the platform and he is spending his time in the snags nearby. if the left leg banded female arrives it will be pretty interesting!
This nest site was actually 2 snag nests beside one another. During the month of September both snag nests came down during storms. The osprey pair that built these nests may have been sub adults as they never nested. One snag was built by a lone male late season 2015. This season he had a mate. They built a second nest in a higher tree beside the first nest. The female left the area mid September but the male remained in the area till the male from the new snag/platform (very close by) #6335 migrated. Both ests came down during different storms with last nest down 9-30-16. No available nesting snags remain for this pair in 2017. Should be a contentious 2017 spring at BBNC with most likely 3 adult pairs returning...stay tuned!
This nest is now 2 nests. The lower snag nest is normal size and now there is a small nest in a snag to the east, about 15 ft. away. I have not seen a second bird in some time but today the male was on a nearby tree eating a fish.
With a break in the rain, sort of, I checked the BBNC nest sites. This one is the only one empty. One was in the nest when I walked down the boardwalk and one was in the usual nearby treeline and both flew overhead while I was walking down the boardwalk. I believe this pair is sub adult setting up housekeeping. It is a risky location as it is close to the ground in a dryer area and quite close to the ongoing activity of the nature center.
One bird in the nest, one bird in trees nearby.
Just one bird visible today and it is low in the nest but I do not think it is incubating. It appears to be fixing nest material.
New low snag nest is more substantial now. the pair hangs out on the nest and in a live tree closer to Grotto Pizza's back parking area.
I first noticed this new 3rd pair of osprey hanging around the BBNC marsh area about 4/25/16. Of course with the old snag down and a pair checking out the nearby old platform things are a bit confusing. I have no idea if this pair is a sub adult pair of the original high snag pair from years past. But there is now 3 pairs very close together. And this is a new nest in a very low snag close to the walkway. The pair comes and goes. Sub adults would be a guess.