8:45 a.m. En route to meet for a bike ride in the area, we stop to observe this nest. There is one chick sitting tall on the nest. The sibling is gone. No surprise! When I last saw the chicks at the nest ten days ago, one was branching and both looked ready to fly. I have estimated that the first fledge was 8/10. It is possible that this chick has also fledged, or maybe not! It soon will join its sibling if it hasn't already.
2:00-2:10p.m. I am doing very quick checks of as many nests as I can after yesterday's tropical storm Isaias. The severely high winds took down many trees and could have blown nests and chicks down. This nest is intact and two big chicks were on the nest, persistently calling. One was "branching" on a tower pipe. I did not stay long enough to see a parent bring in a fish!
1:20 p.m. Two big chicks on the nest alone. They are ready to fledge just as are the other osprey chicks in this area. Thus, the parents leave them alone and both go off to hunt.
4:05 p.m. One chick was self feeding the entire time I watched. The sibling was just watching and waiting. A parent was perched on one of the pillars. These chicks seem healthy and normal and almost ready to fly!
7:25 p.m. Mom was sitting on the nest when I arrived. She was making a big fuss with lots of vocals. There was a large bird circling high overhead which looked like an osprey, and I assumed was Dad, but couldn't tell for sure. I saw a big wing from one of the chicks stretch up so confirmed they were both probably fed and down flat on the nest. At 7:35p.m., Mom flew off and circled around above the nest for a few minutes, eventually landing on the post above the nest. I heard osprey vocals not from the adult perched at the nest, but from a long ways off. I suppose Mom could have been chasing off an osprey adult other than Dad or, if it was her mate, she could have been communicating about something. The two young however, remained down (either resting, or if it was an interloper, they may have been playing dead).
10:30 a.m. I pass by this nest on my way to checking/updating some others and I see that the parents are both feeding 2 hungry eyases. The female does most of the feeding, I notice she is dividing the bites equally between her two off-spring which appear to be 4-5 weeks old. I watched the feeding for about 20 minutes, then left.
2:10p.m. As I arrived at the observation site, the male flies to perch on a post on the lower level of the cell tower as seen in the overview photo. The female is standing in the nest and I am happy to see two chicks! Only one shows in the photo, but I clearly saw two through my scope! Not long after I arrive, they appear to lie down and Mom partially spreads her wings to shade them from today's intense heat and sun.
3:30 p.m. I checked this nest again and found that the female appeared to be sitting down in the nest as viewed from the parking lot of the park. When I moved to higher viewpoint along Creveling Rd, I saw the male bring in a fish and then hop over to perch on the nearby tower post. The female stood and appeared to be eating the fish.
8:40 a.m. I observed one adult sitting on the nest. Soon the male flew in and the female stood. They both arranged the nest a bit, then the female flew off. Soon she returned carrying a large stick which she placed and arranged. The male then hopped to the nearby tower post to perch. The female flew off again, and again returned with a stick. It is clear this pair is busy nest building
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