I was there from 5:15-6:15 pm today When I first got there Ophelia was by herself on the perch by the nest with no youngsters in sight. I walked around the point trying to see them then several minutes later I saw the older chick trying to fish! To the north of the point near shore. He/she landed feet first in the water 3x , but did not catch a fish. It was windy & wavey this evening.
Around the time Christine & Steve arrived, the second fledgling flew in and landed on the nest, chirping. We were treated to flying demos by all three birds & the older fledg. also landed a few times in the cottonwood right at waters edge on north side of point. It weaved its head up & down & around probably trying to see fish in the water below. Orpheus was not there when I was. Sorry I missed the big encounter w/ the intruders! Sent from my iPhone Donna Scott On Aug 6, 2014, at 6:49 PM, Candace Cornell <cec...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thank you all for your reports on the ospreys. I injured my shoulder again > and I'm going to be one-armed for a while so please continue sending me any > osprey reports you can. I greatly appreciate every sighting and keep them all > for use in local osprey population studies and conservation. > > Husband Dave and I went to SP after my doc apt. at 3:15 pm and saw both Odin > and Orion flying well. Odin made several attempts to fish dropping down from > his perch next to the creek and Orion circled the platform and made an > unsuccessful attempt to land on a limb and opted for the nest. Odin's fl;edge > date was July 31 and Orion was Tuesday August 5. Unlike last year's fledges > which were behind schedule as are most new nests, these chicks have ample > time to learn the finer points of flying and fishing before migration. > > Just as we were leaving four intruders came to the nest en masse, circling it > repeatedly as they were pursued by Ophelia and Orpheus. Odin was sitting in a > tree nearby and Orion sat on the nest platform during the entire encounter > which lasted over seven minutes. (Most encounters with intruders around the > nest last one to three minutes.) The intruders were especially aggressive, > staying close to the nest and not letting Orpheus and Ophelia drive them away > over the lake as usual. > > The parents repeatedly flew close to the nest and chirped at Orion. (I > assumed they were checking on him.) The intruders never got closer than 50 > feet from the nest as Ophelia would base them instantly. I plan to discuss > the apparent increase in intruders in the area in an upcoming blog. > > The next important date, which could happen anytime now, is when Ophelia > leaves for her long migration 2K-4K miles depending on her destination. (I > consider her migrated, when I have not seen her after three days of six- hour > observations.) Between that time, we should see some very fine flying from > the adults and the painful learning process of flying and fishing. After > Ophelia leaves on migration, Orpheus will continue to bring fish to the nest > for Odin and Orion until they can fish for themselves and are officially > juveniles. > > Once again, thank you each and every one for you continued help. I can not > tell you how much it means to me and it is crucial to the information I am > trying to gather. Please send any questions you'd like address in a blog. > > Candace > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
