Our Empty Osprey Nest
It has been a week since my last post on our osprey family; and in that time, there isn’t much to report as our entire osprey family has basically been absent from the nest, even during the night. I have not seen a chick for five days, Oliver I’ve seen once, and Olivia twice. Each parent’s visit was brief; Olivia both times called out, maybe trying to bring home her kids. It’s as if they just knew this brutal heat we are experiencing was about to descend on us and flew the coop! We experienced this exact disappearance scenario a couple weeks after last year’s chicks fledged. Hopefully, this year’s have located a tree with shade along the water somewhere, and they are safe and out exploring their new world. They shouldn’t have gone too far, ospreys do continue to use their nest as home base, to meet up with each other and maybe enjoy a dinner until their September migration.
Here’s my last sighting of Oliver, having just departed a brief visit to the nest.
And of Olivia on the nest early Thursday morning, calling out for a few minutes, and then giving up and flying off.
Today there were several osprey flying in the area, but none came to the nest and I wasn’t able to identify if they were any of our family. I’m hoping when the heat breaks, we will see them return more often.
In the meantime, our mockingbird continues to visit the nest to perch and sing. I’ve seen a second mockingbird try to land and the first one chase him away or put on a wing-spread display while screeching, as if to say, go away this is my perch!
I bet Olivia doesn’t know about her house visitors and an intruder has laid claim to her nest. Although I’m sure Mr. Mockingbird would disappear immediately upon seeing a huge osprey coming directly at him to land.
Let’s hope this hot weather breaks and we see our osprey family return with more frequent visits!
Oyster Cove Osprey Fledgings Enjoying Their License to Fly
Wow, what a big difference in just a matter of a week! Not only have our two osprey chicks fledged, but they are out and about much more, and you don’t see them on the nest as often. I’ve not been able to get many photos, but I’ve watched the fun they are having when they are around. They are flying further from the nest as they experience the bigger world, and I’m sure mom Olivia is with them, keeping her eye on them and teaching.
On Saturday I watched Olivia chase one of her youngsters to practice maneuvering and ‘get-away’ from a chase. Olivia was not near as fierce as she is when there’s an intruder, she was slower and chirping as she chased him. When done, Olivia flew up to her youngster and they climbed high and spiraled down slowly. What a beautiful sighting! I’ve also seen one chick actually dunk down into the water and pull back up and out. It looked a bit tough but he/she made it! In no time, the chicks will be learning to dive and snag a fish for their own consumption. In the meantime, good ole dad Oliver is still bringing home the meals, sometimes just passing off the fish to the awaiting chick; or if Olivia and both chicks are there, he passes it to her and she will feed them together. (No sibling rivalry then!) In addition, the nest continues to get maintenance repairs from both parents.
Some photos of our fledgings! Here’s a chick landing for a brief visit to home base…
Olivia and her kids together….
The following chick was enjoying circling the nest and flew unexpectedly up and past me on my left.
If you’re in the community, you just have to come past the nest and sit awhile on the grass or at the picnic table. If the chicks are on the nest, they will most likely fly about and you can watch their twist and turns while they get use to the thrill of soaring. Sometimes they can be really funny!
As I kept an eye out for a sighting of one of our osprey, I captured a few other shots. There is ALWAYS something happening!
I’ve been working on those hummingbird shots… They aren’t so easy….
We do have intense heat and humidity coming our way this week, so hopefully our chicks will be dunking in the water in order to keep cool through it. Everyone also be safe with the heat too!
Olivia Is One Fierce Protective Mom!
No one comes anywhere close to Olivia’s kids without her approval! This past weekend I watched several instances where Olivia was in pursuit of another who invaded her domain. With her kids flying now, it appears Olivia claims much more of the surrounding area. One of the best dog fights I saw was with a Great Blue Heron, who was just flying by minding his own business. Not only did Olivia scream while chasing him, the Great Blue Heron too was having his say, creating such drama and action. Being unprepared, my photos are out of focus, but thought it was still interesting to share. In one, you’ll see the two chicks on the nest watching their mom’s fierceness as she forces the poor Blue Heron in all directions, who is just trying to get away and quickly out of the area.
Thirty minutes later, Olivia was after another osprey while a single chick was on the nest. This continued off and on all weekend! You go, Olivia!
Since our osprey chicks’ fledging, it is already quite obvious the skill and control they have learned. Watching them soaring and circling, you can just tell they are having a great time.
When they’re not flying or perching on the roof, both chicks will still return to their home for comfort and feedings. Here’s a nice shot of our two healthy full-grown chicks.
I found this interesting, both last and tonight early evening, I saw a mockingbird on the nest while it was empty. With binoculars, I have seen on a hot still day tiny bugs buzzing all around the nest. I’ve imagined it cannot be pleasant with the decaying fish parts that get imbedded within. This little guy just hopped all round, grabbing and eating. It was as if he found the mother-load of insects! Yesterday, he was forced off the nest by a landing chick. Tonight, I watched Olivia fly over while she watched the mockingbird eating and she did not seam to care. She headed down to the Lipincott channel marker and perched there. Hey, maybe Olivia hired a maid! 🙂 It is amazing, though, on how nature entwines different species who actually help each other without even trying.
Osprey nests are always over water but usually not as high in the air as this one on the Bloody Point Lighthouse, at the south tip of Kent Island. An adult osprey is perched on the top left, the disarrayed nest to the right. There was no evidence of any chicks this weekend and the condition of the nest did not look good. Maybe a first year’s try….or one of those storm cells that came through destroyed it. The dedicated osprey was still there though watching and protecting his home.
That osprey certainly has great waterfront real estate with a view! 🙂 Finally, coming back through the Kent Narrows on one of the channel markers, I captured a close-up shot of another osprey eating a fish.
Til next post, have a great week!
Both Oyster Cove Osprey Chicks Have Fledged
It’s officially, both chicks have fledged…..finally! 🙂 I was beginning to wonder if they were flying all night and resting during the day to keep us from knowing, lol. Early this morning, was just the usual, a feeding, some wing-flapping with lift-offs, a nap. I kept my eye on the nest most of this Saturday morning and about 9:15 I saw one missing from the nest. I searched and didn’t see the chick flying. Within 5 minutes I actually watched the second chick depart the nest. Here’s some highlights of his flight circling and then returning to the nest. Mom Olivia spoke to her young one the whole time, calling out with different sounds that weren’t the normal cries I’ve heard. She was giving tips and approvals maybe?
Touchdown!
Is that a grin on his face? Of course it is!
And a pose for the camera!
After the successful landing, dad Oliver appeared with a beautiful nice-size fish that the chick grabbed and began to devour. I still wondered where the other chick was and had a hunch he might be on the roof or a perch close by, maybe resting from his flight and enjoying a different view for a change. If he was, he’d quickly arrive if he saw that fish being delivered. YUP! He made his way to the nest to get his share within two minutes!
I did a constant watch during the mornings and late afternoon/early evenings before today but didn’t see any missing chicks from the nest; so one or both of the chicks could have fledged a day or two earlier. I was prepared to post photos of some amazing 2-3 foot lift-offs from the last couple days. But this is more exciting, our osprey chicks’ lives has changed and they have so much more now to learn. Those wings need to learn control and maneuvering, while gaining much-needed strength as they soon learn to dive either for a fish or just to immerse themselves to cool off as the heat and humidity begins to rise this month and next.
A quick photo from yesterday late afternoon as those torrential downpours were diminishing. Mom Olivia is on the far left. The chicks are drenched and didn’t seem too happy, huh?
Finally, a quick shot I took this morning of a visiting hummingbird. I put my feeder out four days ago and am already having several visitors, I’ve seen two at once. I’ll need to work on lighting to show better ones to share!
Osprey Chicks To Fly Any Day
I am surprised we haven’t had an osprey chick fledge yet as of yesterday, but the last couple days have lacked the breezes and winds they love to practice in. On Saturday we did have breezy conditions, and I watched some impressive 1-2 foot lift-offs, then dropping back down quickly. I created a quick video of a sequence of 24 photos of one such lift-off that day. You will see towards the end of the video, she gets a little squirrelly but brings it back together and down. Also notice the extended talons are always ready and reaching to grab hold of the nest if/when necessary.
On Sunday evening, we were lucky to only get clipped by a large thunderstorm cell passing over Eastern Bay and Tilghman’s Island. With the rain & windy conditions, our chicks were taking advantage of some more lift-offs. I was trying to capture the storm crossing the bay when I saw one getting quite air-born. Had me worried for a while that the winds would whisk one of our chicks away by accident!
The temperatures have climbed back up and the humidity is back. (YUCK!) This past weekend I watched Olivia leave the nest a few times, primarily to skip along the water or totally immerse herself to cool off.
When Olivia returned from one dunking, I captured some great shots of her on the nest puffing and spreading her feathers to air them out. Her family looks on as Olivia strikes some beautiful poses!
Now at 9 1/2 weeks old, our full-grown chicks are becoming more aggressive as they learn what is necessary to be on their own. The next few photos show one of the chicks being quite vocal at a passing bird while mom continues to feed the other. Olivia did immediately check out what the chick’s alert was all about but found it not to be an intruder so she continued to feed while ignoring the ruckus.
In that last photo, the chick is giving the ‘that’ll show you to come around my nest’ look. 🙂 Another series of agressiveness photos follow, these were yesterday at sunrise so the photos are grainy but it was quite comical to watch and I wanted to share. Now when Oliver drops a fish delivery, the chicks will attempt to try & pull a piece of fish off while mom is feeding the other. This time Olivia allowed one chick to take the fish, which the other chick wasn’t too happy about. So a tug-of-war began between the two. Mom kept her eye on them.
Since the tug-of-war wouldn’t stop (poor fish!), Olivia took the fish back with both chicks quickly surrendering it. She ate a couple bites herself while they watched, and she then began feeding them. Her chicks have become normal teenagers!
Can you imagine scratching an itch with those osprey talons? They do it all the time, I can’t believe they don’t snag themselves.
Some final shots from the last few days, the first has dad Oliver bringing more soft nesting material to the nest…
Some flapping practice and a feeding while a purple martin cruises by….
And another family portrait. Olivia is on the right, still wet from a recent dunking. 🙂
As I finish this, I wonder if today’s breezes gave one of our osprey teenagers just enough courage to take that fledging soar to the sky. Maybe! Next post, I hope to be saying so!
Osprey Chicks Lifting Off Nest
Our osprey chicks are now releasing their talons from the nest while they practice their flapping and are now lifting off a couple inches, then immediately dropping back down. It looks as if they are hopping around, creating havoc with those large wings. Their faces show a look of surprise and possibly a bit of fear! Yesterday evening I watched mom Olivia being slapped over and over again, but she took it all in stride. Her kids need to practice, flight day is just around the corner!
With all that hopping and jumping, the nest is taking a bit of a beating. Every so often while bouncing, a stick or two will fall to the water. Our dad Oliver is on top of the maintenance, bringing more every day!
Careful Dad of the kids!
Mom Olivia had taken a break from the nest, but was right behind Oliver in returning home.
Next photo shows a full house and Oliver’s architectural talent to date!
Oliver still has a taste for other nest decor besides sticks. Couple days ago did anyone see the aluminum foil in the nest? It got tucked down inside before I got a photo.
More nesting material!
When Oliver’s not building, he’s fishing and delivering. He is one busy, busy dad!
I’ve read that a parent brings an average of 5-7 fish a day for a two-chick osprey brood that’s close to fledging. Plus they each need to fish to feed themselves. Good thing we have great fishing in the area!
A final photo of Olivia and her teenagers. 🙂 In this shot you can see the kids eyes are more brighter & orange in comparison to Olivia’s. These will change with time and become more like mom’s.
As we head into the holiday weekend, everyone have a great time and please be safe. Happy 4th of July!
(Photo is of Oyster Cove’s new community flag recently donated and hung. It’s beautiful, thank you community neighbors, the Shapiro’s!)
Flight is Close for Oyster Cove Osprey Chicks
Now at eight weeks old, our osprey chicks have become quite impressive with their beauty, growth, and strength. Their feathers continue to become fuller and longer, and they spend lots of time preening them. Their wings are almost full-grown and the flapping has become much more powerful and steady. I’ve not seen any lift-offs yet (lifting up off the nest while flapping and dropping back down quickly) but I’m expecting to see some this upcoming week. Last year, our two chicks fledged on July 7 and July 8; and they were born later than this year’s two chicks, so flight is close!
Note the chick’s large talons in the next photo….
I’ve noticed Olivia leaves the nest more and more, usually just for a flight and then back. Our two chicks will intently watch her each time. Is mom teaching?
Now that they have gotten so big, at times one of the chicks will practice some wing-flapping, accidentally slapping the others in the nest. Sometimes it’s quite funny. They just try to get out of the way to make room for the practicing chick.
Then there are times when Olivia will just leave the nest altogether to make more room. When she did in the next photo, it appeared the chick was going to follow her; but it actually gave him/her the space to open those wings wider and really flap. But one day soon, he/she will follow mom right off the nest and into the sky!
I’ve seen Oliver more often in the last couple weeks, just coming to the nest to hang out with the family. The other area ospreys are still not welcomed around Oliver and Olivia’s airspace and they will make it known with loud threatening calls, as in the next photo. I’ve heard the chicks starting to make little calls out too, mimicing mom and dad. They are definitely taking it all in and learning!
Yesterday early evening was one of those times Oliver came to perch. After a quiet time together, Olivia began a low, constant chirp. When she got louder and appeared to be directing it at Oliver, Oliver took off from the nest and headed directly towards the water below. Olivia stopped chirping immediately. Both chicks’ eyes followed dad’s flight.
All eyes in the nest stayed on Oliver…..
And amazingly, just like that, Oliver half-turned with claws out, and lined up for a strike and dive!
Success!
What a quick catch on demand! Both chicks watched him as he returned with the catch and passed it to Olivia who fed those two hungry bellies. This is the second time I’ve watch Oliver strike for a fish right at the nest this week, with both chicks watching. Is he teaching the chicks some beginning techniques and maneuvers? Maybe!
I’ve done a first attempt in a small video of sequenced photos, showing some wing-flapping action into the breeze, during a steady rain on June 17. You’ll see back then their big and awkward wings caused a lot of unbalance while attempting to flap. Now that I’ve kind of figured this out, I hope to share some good action photo sequences this way. 🙂
A final osprey photo, on occasion a boat will pass close by the nest. Olivia has her eye on this one; and I liked the colors, something different than water behind our family!
Finally, on other wildlife within our community, we have a killdeer family around the tennis courts. It was quite interesting in how the male would try to draw my attention to him with his shrill call and spreading & fluffing of his feathers, falling sometimes & acting as if he was injured, all while the female guarded the baby. I had no idea they were even there, until the male made such a ruckus at me. After a couple photos, I retreated for their comfort.
That baby killdeer sure was a cutie running around! And as our osprey chicks will be doing, this little one will be flying soon too.
For those in the community, keep a watch on our osprey nest this week, you may just catch an exciting lift-off and drop. And a chick’s expression when he’s done it!
Osprey Chicks Practicing For The Big Flight Day
Such a hectic past two weeks, which kept me away more than I like from our nest; and WOW what great change in just little over another week! Our little ones have continued to grow and are now starting to actually look like ospreys. They both look very healthy, filling out nicely in their bodies, which means on-the-go dad Oliver has been doing his job in keeping their bellies filled with lots of fish deliveries.
They definitely like looking around to the outside world from the inside edge of the nest. If you’re close by, you can hear them chirp softly. Another noticeable change is the growth of their wings and length of feathers. And lots of practicing with their wing-flapping! They are still awkward with them and will fall over when they get unbalanced, but their strength is much stronger and soon we will see some scary lift-offs!
I’ve noticed Olivia is now leaving the nest briefly at times, either for a circling flight above around the nest or a quick disappearance and return with some materials for the nest. Maybe she’s teaching the chicks some flying techniques. I know she must be very happy to finally get a bit more freedom from the nest!
And when momma returns, her kids are happy to see her!
Did you catch a sight on the little bird coming in to his/her nest home beneath as well? That was luck, lol.
Here are some other photos giving you an idea on just how big the chicks have gotten.
Finally, a couple photos I captured this past week. Caught a momma duck (need to still identify species!) with her babies swimming along Fisherman’s Crab Deck. I thought they were cute different colors.
The next one was taken last Saturday late evening of Parsons Island from my balcony while a strong thunderstorm cell was passing over Tilghman’s Island just south of us. I’ve not been very lucky in capturing lightning but this time I got one! (after lots of trying!)
Thanks for your interest in Oliver and Olivia, and the wonderful comments. I do enjoy sharing my photos with you and appreciate your time and patience! Until next time!
Oyster Cove Osprey Family Portrait
What a humid, hot week our osprey family experienced so early in the season. As the week progressed, temps reached in the upper 90’s, and the afternoons were just too hot for our little ones to do much more than try to get under mom Olivia’s spread wings to get out of the sun. They enjoyed the early mornings and early evenings more, and were up and active then. Of course, they aren’t so little any more as photos continue to show their rapid growth from week to week.
The first photo was taken early morning earlier this week, the chicks were sitting up alongside their mom, enjoying a slight breeze blowing at them. I wonder what they were so intently watching?
Shortly after, Olivia did a little housekeeping. One of the chicks was up on the side of the nest, giving us a good look at his/her body size in comparison to mom. They make me nervous when they are so close to the edge!
More wing-flapping is occurring as the chicks try to figure out what those awkward things are all about. While Olivia was feeding one, the other did some flapping practice….
All that growth means we have hungry babies. Oliver keeps up with lots of fish deliveries…
The next two photos shows Olivia returning with a fish that she had been feeding to the chicks. She had felt threatened by a passer-by with a dog and wasn’t taking any chances, she just circled around until they left. In the first photo, I wanted to point out Olivia’s wing (left in the photo) shows a feather growing in which I had previously mentioned was missing a couple weeks ago. Wondering if she had been in a fight or entanglement, or worse sick, I had discussed the previous photos with Lisa at Blackwater Refuge and she thought it could be that Olivia was molting, which the females will do before their chicks fledge. Now seeing the feather growing in confirms the good news!
The heat yesterday was the worst of the week. I got a chance to watch the chicks late evening and even that late in the day they looked a bit distressed as they panted to stay cool.
Trying to capture a ‘family portrait’ is not easy with ospreys once the nest becomes crowded with growing babies. But this evening I finally got some where everyone was there and in great position. 🙂
I think the chicks spotted me in that last one! 🙂
The weather is predicted to improve in the next few days with more average temperatures for the season, which should be more comfortable for the chicks. Let’s hope so. They just have a few more weeks to endure before they fly and can learn to submerge themselves as needed to cool off throughout the hotter July/August days of summer.
Olivia Scores Dinner
Not only have we enjoyed the cooler temps this past week, so haven’t our osprey. It’s a bit distressing to see them in the heat panting and the babies trying to slide under mom Olivia as she shades them with her wings. The cooler chicks have been more alert, and getting up and about more makes for better photos to see their size now. Here’s a few shots over last week, you will notice the chicks’ down is disappearing and replacing with small pin feathers that will grow into full size feathers. As Lisa at Friends of Blackwater NWR describes it, they are in that dinosaur-looking stage.
They are getting big, aren’t they! The babies are now about 70-75% of their adult weight; in another 3-4 weeks, they will be taking their first flight!
I also have some exciting shots to share of Olivia scoring dinner for her babies. The two were up and about, looking at mom, as if they were hungry. Olivia kept looking up in a certain sky direction, then at them. About 30 minutes passed and the babies were definitely restless and were giving mom some real begging looks. After a final look in that same sky direction, she left and circled up and around the nest. Then immediately, she dove down alongside and unbelievably scored a fish! Here’s some of the shots in sequence…
She then quickly started feeding her babies. Now that’s a fresh meal!
Not even a couple minutes had passed, when Oliver dropped down onto the nest with his catch. Olivia didn’t pay him any attention, just continued to feed.
With the fish still under his claws, Oliver took a quick glance at a seagull who was checking out the fresh fish on display in the nest. One of the chicks also saw the seagull and let out little cries of warning, it wasn’t very loud but so cute. He’s learning!
After the seagull circled once and left (he must have feared the roaring chick lol), Oliver continued to stand on the nest with his clawed fish. He didn’t try to feed the other chick and the other chick didn’t beg any from him, it seemed odd. But it is normal that it’s the mom’s chore to the feed her young. Oliver finally decided his fish wasn’t wanted and left with it. Olivia continued to pay attention feeding one of the chicks. Maybe she was annoyed Oliver was late with dinner and she had to go get some herself!
Oliver is still one fantastic provider, he just was a bit late that last time! He continues to keep the nest strong which is also important for the fast growing chicks. They will be full-grown in another 3-4 weeks. And Oliver loves that plastic, he’s shown here bringing some more to tuck and pack into the sticks….
As well as more sticks….you can see while he’s working, Olivia is catching up on some sleep with a quick nap.
Stay tuned for more action and antics of our osprey family!
Bay Photos by Donna 