Olivia’s Journey South Has Begun
I haven’t seen mom Olivia now for over a week and a half. Since this past Monday, seagulls are perching both mornings and evenings on Lippincott’s channel marker; and I don’t believe Olivia would allow that, that perch being hers all season. So it appears that Olivia has begun her 3,000+ mile/up to 5-week journey to South America where most opsrey from North America migrate. We wish her luck and hope she is able to handle the hazards she will face. We will look forward to her safe return in March!
Ollie is continuing to be the dutiful-dad, watching over and caring for the chicks. This week I’ve seen him bring sticks twice to the nest and work them in, as well as more headless fish to an awaiting, hungry chick. (He enjoys snacking on that head every time before he delivers!)
It was exciting to finally see a chick bring a self-caught fish to the nest. While eating on the edge of the nest, the chick dropped a piece of fish down into the sticks on the side.
Not able to reach it easily, our chick gave up and continued to eat, there was still plenty. Something caused the chick to get nervous and so she took flight with the fish and flew out of sight. About 30 minutes later, we had a seagull on our osprey nest, most definitely interested in that fish morsel that fell down the side. It was comical watching him try to get to it for several minutes, without falling off. His hard efforts proved successful. After swallowing it, he perched upright and called out his success to the sky.
Here are a few more photos of our osprey chicks from this past week.
Finally, another comical-looking photo I missed uploading last week I thought was cute. The ‘kick’ did work, the other chick took flight….but only to return back to the nest and get his spot back!
