Nest Visitors – Eagles!
What a treat today! I was so lucky to be at the right place at the right time to photograph two young adult eagles on our nest as they rested for a while.
When they took flight, they flew over to Kent Narrows channel marker #3 where two other eagles were perched. They interacted a bit and then separated, two flying back and going over to CBEC to perch while the other two perched briefly on channel marker #5 before flying out of sight. I tried to captured all four in a single photo but lucked out with three.
As you’ve noticed in our area, an osprey sighting is becoming less and less as most are further down the migration highway or have already arrived to their winter destination. I haven’t seen one myself in our area for a couple of weeks but I luckily did see one briefly this afternoon in the distant over by Lipincott’s; he was circling and then nose-dived into the water, coming back up with a fish! Here’s his success photo, sorry it’s so blurry.
I also saw another osprey along the boardwalk on the Patuxent River in Solomons Island this past weekend. He too was searching for fish but he wasn’t finding any and flew off to search more. Hopefully, these osprey transients can keep on the move best they can as they make their way south.
Finally, I wanted to show you one of the painted fire hydrants on Solomons Island which caught my eye……can you guess what it is?
An osprey of course! 🙂 I thought it was cute.
To catch up on our Oyster Cove osprey family, I’m working on June’s gallery and should have up in a couple more days. Til then, have a great week!
Oliver & Olivia – May 2010 Photos
Here are Oliver & Olivia’s exciting photos from May! Dad Ollie continued to bring nesting materials to the nest for the anticipated arrival of the chicks. By the second week of May, both parents are seen sitting and observing within the nest which is a sign that maybe a chick was hatching or had hatched. By mid-May, we have two chicks visible! And by the end of May, the photos show just how much they have grown in just those two weeks. Amazing!! A reminder, if you click on the thumbnail photos, they will open up to a larger photo to view. Enjoy!
Oliver & Olivia’s 2010 Photo Gallery
Hello and welcome back! I apologize it took me so long to understand and figure out the way to present photo galleries through this blog program. I’ll continue to work out the bugs as I go along. So far, I’ve been working on setting up a monthly gallery from this year’s season of Oliver and Olivia and have uploaded their photos from March and April. I will continue to add each month as I complete them as quickly as I can. To access the galleries, select from the Categories Select Category section to the right through the drop-down menu.
I hope you enjoy reliving Oliver and Olivia’s past season through my photos and thank you for being patient!
Oliver & Olivia – April 2010 Photos
Here are photos of Oliver and Olivia from the month of April. Approximately April 6, Olivia started becoming a permanent fixture on the nest keeping her newly laid eggs warm while Oliver continued to add to the strength of the nest. When Olivia needed a break to stretch her wings and catch some fish, Oliver would take over egg-duty. The photos dated April 25th are in sequence showing the ‘changing of the guard’ with Olivia coming back to the nest to relieve Oliver who was patiently keeping the eggs warm for her. Also check out the nest’s drastic increase in size from March’s and the beginning of April’s photos to the end of April’s.
Oliver & Olivia – March 2010 Photos
Here are photos of Oliver and Olivia from the month of March. As you can see, they were very busy in just a short amount of time repairing and building back their nest. What commitment after both just returned from flying about 4,000+ miles from South America!
Our Osprey Have Migrated….
With a bit of sadness, it appears the end of our osprey family’s 2010 season with us is here. Since my last posting, I haven’t seen our last chick since last Saturday, and dad Ollie not at all. These last two days my instinct has been telling me they have all four left for their migration south. This morning while the sun was rising, I found this visitor on the nest.
He was a surprise and I felt our ‘sign’ that, yes, our osprey family are all officially enroute south. What makes them decide any given moment to up and leave? It isn’t exactly known but is guessed there is some type of magnetic pull, maybe from the sun’s solstice and the season’s change, that they feel; one day each feels it and just ups and goes without warning or a goodbye! It is also guessed that osprey have some type of inner ‘GPS’ that guides them on their long 4-5 week journey to South America. I can just imagine each of our family members are all now soaring the beautiful skies while they find new locations to fish and rest along the way. Let’s wish them a safe journey with the hopes of Ollie and Olivia’s safe return next March. If our two chicks succeed in surviving the many turmoils they will face in their migrations, they will stay in South America for a year and a half, returning two springs from now, most likely coming back to our general area to start their own families.
If you have a further interest in the osprey migration, Rob Bierregaard, Jr., a professor at the University of North Carolina, has been researching osprey since 1969. Since 2000, he has tagged 42 adult and juvenile osprey from Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Long Island, Westport, North Carolina, and Delaware with small satellite transmitters to track their actual migrations. The information they have learned is astounding. You can visit and subscribe to his website that shows exactly where each osprey and active transmitter are at the present. As we know, the osprey are on the move! In fact, don’t be surprised to see an osprey from the north come through our area as they fly down over the Chesapeake Bay in the next few weeks for a rest or bite to eat on their journey.
A quick recap, the Chestertown osprey cam has been taken down for the season, (what a wonderful livefeed local cam!), I will remention it next spring when their camera is back online. Blackwater’s popup cam is still running, with little Hope and her dad still around the last few days, but I’m sure it won’t be long before they have migrated as well. So check Blackwater NWR out for their final glimpses of their successful three-chick family!
As I promised, I am working on a photo gallery of this past season of photos prior to July, but I’m having a bit of a technical issue as I try to teach myself how to do it through trial and error! Quite frankly, I will admit I didn’t think I could even teach myself how to create a blog, let alone figure out how to maintain it. Gotta say, I’m tickled that I’ve been able to do what I have so far……and the awesome responses from all of you have told me I’m doing an A-OK job! 🙂 So a big THANK YOU to all of you for giving me the continued incentive and support to share our osprey family’s season and growth with you through words and photos. Now I’ll get working on those photo galleries!
Definitely One Chick Still Around
Hurricane Earl stayed far enough away from our area thankfully! Since my last post Tuesday, it wasn’t until Friday before I saw any of our osprey family on the nest. Here are photos from Friday. Again, this one hung out on the edge, keeping an eye on the surroundings.
Saturday, the same chick came around again. I didn’t catch a photo until he took flight. This chick definitely turned into one beautiful osprey. As he flew up over our building, there’s definitely an eye on me….that raptor look….I don’t think I’d want to tangle with an osprey, do you?!! 😉
With the osprey leaving our area for migration, I have seen more eagle sightings over at CBEC (one of Olivia’s roosting trees) and across the Narrows over on Kent Island; they are also interesting and beautiful to watch. Our local eagles do not migrate. During the fall they begin working on their nests and lay eggs late January. They will visit our osprey nest too! I’ve captured a few eagles visiting, here’s one from January 2010….
Oh boy, I bet Ollie and Olivia wouldn’t be too happy knowing who visited their nests while they’re south for the winter! We will have a sneek peek, I’ve got a file on photos of our visitors I’ve seen, I’ll post them at a later date. Have a safe and happy Labor Day!
Ollie Is One Fantastic Provider!
Wow, Ollie is one fantastic provider! I’ve seen him deliver a fish to an awaiting chick three times since my last post on Saturday. Here’s a photo sequence of a noon fish delivery on Sunday. The “white line” off the chick’s wing is one of his feathers that got stuck up from his flapping excitement when dad was approaching. Of course, Ollie took a quick flight immediately. He sure is fast!
I’ve kept notes but mostly took photos for diary reference (date/time) whenever I’ve seen an osprey on the nest these last few weeks. I have been going through my photos from the last week and was able to determine by different markings on each that it appears we still have both chicks visiting the nest, I’m guessing looking for dad and a fish delivery.
If you are interested in reading a book on osprey, I just finished and thoroughly enjoyed Return of the Osprey written by David Gessner. David follows an entire season of four osprey nests around his home in Cape Cod and also recounts his own life of readjustments and discoveries. In addition, he gives an excellent history narrative on how DDT used back in the late 1950’s to 1970’s all but wiped out the osprey and their strong comeback today. The book is available at Blackwater NWR’s online store or most other book stores. David Gessner also has a website www.ospreyworld.com. David has published a second osprey book, Soaring With Fidel, that I hope to start reading in a few weeks! And next on my list to buy is Alan Poole’s Osprey: A Natural and Unnatural History (Cambridge U. Press 1989). It is the best osprey fact book from over ten years of his expert studies. I hope to learn as much as possible to pass on to you during next year’s full season of our osprey family. We will all become osprey ‘experts’! Or at least may know more than most people…. 🙂
Shortly after a chick left the nest, I was surprised to see a blue heron visiting below the nest. He didn’t stay long, but wow, he was brave!
Finally, a few photos of a baby bird that landed on our deck chair. I think it is a mocking bird but I am not sure. He didn’t mind “posing” for me, he actually started chirping at me and would open his mouth wide. He was so cute, I couldn’t resist passing on to you to enjoy too!
Have a great Labor Day weekend and let’s hope Hurricane Earl stays far away from us!
Ollie and The Chicks Are Still Around
It’s been a week of seeing only short visits from our osprey dad and chicks. With their migration journey fast approaching, our chicks are most likely out exploring beyond their normal flight areas as they feel the tug that calls them south. With the nest becoming less of a magnet to them, we are having a lot of seagulls stopping to search for any fish morsels. Ollie is still around being the dutiful dad, I spotted him twice this past week dropping a fish to an awaiting chick. Here’s a photo of him flying by me after one fish drop-off.
A third time was quite different and I still find it a bit odd. I had been enjoying the view although our nest was empty. I had taken a 10 minute break and when I returned, Ollie was on the nest along with a paper bag (from McDonald’s?). He wasn’t messing with the bag, just looking around and then took flight. His take-off ‘blew’ the bag off the nest and into the water where it sank after becoming saturated. The other plastic items were in the nest earlier. Did he bring it for nesting material?
Our chicks have learned fast to be the fierce raptor that is their species. These past couple weeks they vocalized at everything in their view that had eyes and movement. If you got too close, they screamed louder and took on a combative stance. The osprey chicks over on the Kent Narrows marker did a lot of soaring over our nest one afternoon and at one time tried to land on our nest, here’s a photo sequence. Our chick does a victory dance at the end!
Not only are the seagulls visiting the nest, I’ve seen blue heron a couple times fishing down on the rocks’ edge, not too far from the nest. They wouldn’t get that opportunity if our osprey were present. My July 13th post recalls one such dog-fight between Olivia and a blue heron that ventured too close to her liking. Here’s a visiting blue heron from this week. He didn’t catch a fish but he was pretty to watch!
I will keep my eye out for our last weeks’ sightings before our osprey begin their journey south.
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!
