Osprey Nests in North America

[Chimega]

Smitty comes back an hour or so later, bringing a stick - then a new female!

[Chimega]

There is arial fighting, mostly the new female, probably being chased by Ginny and Ginny finally arrives back and claims the nest.





The next morning they come back to the nest and just sit and stare out over the lake.

[Chimega]

Ginny looking out over the lake.





Smitty flies past, probably in search of fish. Then I went to bed. It was a long several nights for me.

[Janne+Ais]

O Chimega, it tears my heart apart! Even now I am shocked although all is over now. You write about "Social Stream". Is ist allowed to join? Did you send this pictures to the State Park Company? Thank you for your report and the frightening and sad, sad pictures.

[Chimega]

Hi Janne+Ais,

This is the cam site. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/smith-mou ... osprey-cam

You have probably been there before. You don't have to ask to join their social stream. You do need to be a ustream member, though. You just register a name, email and stuff like that, to create your account. There are two types, free and a pay type. I have the free type. I've been a member of ustream since 2009 so I don't know what may have changed as far as registering, if anything. You will need either a twitter account, or a Facebook account, though, I think! Not sure. But if you do chat and have Facebook, check your settings once you start to make sure your posts aren't going there or your friends might get upset. lol. It will show up for all to see.

Right now there isn't much going on there as far as chatting but apparently there are intruders trying to take over the nest and from what I read, it sounds like egg laying may be soon if they do manage to take it. Very late in the season for this to happen, if that's what's going on!

They also have a chatroom and that's all on the same page. You can switch back and forth between chatroom and social stream if you want, too.

I didn't send the photos to anyone. I did post some of them on their Facebook page but they got pulled down. I also posted some on the Hellgate Facebook page as a lot of us were watching this nest.

If you need any help, message me and I will try to help you.

[javabird]

I remember three chicks drop off the nest last year.
Two chicks were saved by human, one disappeared.
They think they were frightened by firework.
But I think it was the same GHO.
And it come back again this year.
I really don't think it's a safe place to breed for osprey anymore.
They should move the nest to some other place.

[Chimega]

I agree, javabird. There are others that now believe it was the GHO, too. And there is great video from 2011, I believe, of the GHO taking a chick from the nest. Great video in that it was very clear and in daylight. This nest is not safe for osprey!

[Janne+Ais]

Chimega, thank you so much for your good explanation! I will try it, this weekend.
Two questions:
Can humans do something, to shelter the nest?
Other nests are not that vulnerable? Isn't it so, that all osprey nests are very exposed and the owl can discover and get them all?

[Chimega]

Hi Janne+Ais

Yes there are a few designs that would shield the chicks, some, from a predator. But if that predator chases the parent off the nest - and this owl did, then that nest with special sides on it won't do any good. I think the best solution, sadly, is to remove the nest altogether. Those owls are all over the area, though. I have read there are other osprey there and I believe it, as large as that lake and area are. I would imagine that owl or it and others, go from nest to nest until they get all the chicks. Moving the nest or taking it down won't solve that problem. The osprey would just build more nests, anyway. The only solution I can see is to remove all the owls and put them somewhere far away but I think that is probably against the law.

[javabird]

GHO is terrible predators. They even hunt adult ospreys sometimes.
It's very dangerous for osprey to stay in that area.

[Chimega]

Unless someone gets a special permit from the government, they can't touch the osprey nests while there are osprey occupying them or at least while they are nesting. And I don't believe anyone can just go in and remove either species. Besides, the SML osprey we see on the cam are not the only osprey nesting in that area.

[Kukelke]

Tragic events at the Nelson Osprey Nest in British Columbia, Canada. And hopefully a good outcome:

Nestcam link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nelson-osprey-nest


This is the first year this nestcam is online and all looked well; 3 eggs were laid, 3 osplets hatched and were thriving. In short, a happy osprey family.
Until disaster struck last friday... the male left and never returned. The female was desperately calling for fish for her chicks, and was forced to go fish herself after three days. The chicks were starving and as usual under such circumstances the youngest osplet died from lack of food, rain and hypothermia and it looked like the other 2 osplets' fate would be the same...
But the female managed to catch fish and feed her 2 remaining chicks, and then suddenly mysterious fish started to appear on the nest, with the heads and tails cut clean off. A sort of deus ex machina, or fish fairy, was helping the widow and her chicks.

Today I found this article about what has happened to the male and what now is done to try to rescue these chicks:

Dad was found dead with a fish in his talons.

The mystery of what happened to the male osprey so many have come to know from the Nelson Hydro/Columbia Wireless nest webcam west of Nelson was solved Wednesday when the body of the bird was found in a deep ravine.

“Yes, we’re relieved,” said Nelson Hydro line manager Doug Pickard. “It’s never a good feeling when you don’t know what happened.”

“He had a nice sized fish in his talons,” he said.

Pickard said they now know the bird had a run-in with a high-voltage power line that caused the power outage at 5 a.m. in the Grohman area on (Friday) June 20.

(...)

Working with a local bird biologist, Nelson Hydro determined that the remaining two chicks in the nest would likely die of dehydration if left unfed.

With the verbal approval of Fish and Wildlife, Nelson Hydro decided to supply fish to the nest via a bucket truck after dad had been missing for three days. Within a couple hours the chicks were well fed.

“She (the mother) didn’t care if the fish were cleaned or not.

“At this age the chicks are highly susceptible to predation and it’s a fair distance to the lake,” said Pickard.

“We’re in some ways responsible for this guy’s demise. If the birds don’t make it, it won’t be because we didn’t try.”

Pickard said the crew would put fish near the nest every two days until the chicks and mother are able to fish for themselves.

http://thenelsondaily.com/news/osprey-m ... 60vb7FYCpr

The remaining chicks look rather well now, although to me it seems that their growth is somewhat disturbed because of the previous lack of food; their heads are much bigger than the size of their bodies would predict. So the lack of food had an impact on the growth of their bodies, it seems that the few nutriciants they got went to make the heads grow while the development of their bodies stayed behind. Hopefully they will catch up and soon have normal proportions again.

It isn't the first time that an osprey mum has to take care for her chicks alone, well helped by human intervention, and as far as I have understood from other cases the chances of success are absolutely there.
Perhaps she even manages to attract a foster dad for her chicks. A prospecting unbound male looking for a mate and a nest who would bring her fish which she in return would feed the osplets. Also this has happened before.

So, a very interesting case to keep an eye on. Fingers crossed for this family.

[Kukelke]

Some updates on the Nelson nest:

To start with the relatively good news: Both remaining chicks were still alive when I went to bed last night.
But to be honest, to me they didn't look as healthy osplets, although both were very lively and begging and calling for food all the time. But they are more than just a bit hungry, their crops were completely empty and they must eat today, otherwise they will be knocking on heavens door...

Yesterday the rain was relentless, and Nellie (the female) did what she had to do under such circumstances: shelter her chicks and keep them as warm and dry as possible, because cold and wet are killers even more than a lack of food.
When it finally stopped raining for a while, Nellie got up, did some nestorations and eventually found the fish on the tray next to the nest. It looked like she desperately tried to get that fish, but somehow she couldn't manage to pull the fish on the nest where her chicks were screeching for food. So after a while she settled on the chicks again when another rainshower came in.
The people trying to help this osprey family are aware of the problem and will try to solve it when they deliver fresh fish later today, as far as I understood.

Here 2 pictures of the nest with the pulley system to deliver the fish (pictures made by SilverLake):




And here another article about the recent events on the nest and the attempts to help these ospreys: http://www.castanet.net/news/BC/118097/ ... the-osprey

[Kukelke]

It's still night at the Nelson nest, and still raining, but Nellie briefly stood up and I was able to make a screenshot of the osplets. Luckily both are still alive and moving (the oldest behind the 2nd):



Link to the nestcam: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nelson-osprey-nest

[Janne+Ais]

Thanks Kukelke!
A sad, sad story! I hope, mom and the two chicks will make it!
This "shot" puts my teeth on edge! Did mom "know" what a tragedy happened? (My human interpretation)

[javabird]

I think fish supply every two days is not enough.
It's a torture for the babies. It's better not give them any food.
So they don't have to suffering to die for a long time.

[Kukelke]

The last hour or so people have been to the nest and installed the improved pulley system, and left the tray full of fish. Nellie was off the nest when it happened and both chicks were still begging for food and moving about, which in itself is a good sign. Right now Nellie is sitting on them again to warm them up. All she has to do now, after the chicks are warm and during a dry spell, is to take the fish and start feeding.
The people involved in the rescue action are ornithologists who have experience with providing fish for ospreys this way, and with success. So fingers crossed it will work now.

@javabird, every other day the tray is filled with fish, not just a single fish but many of them. More fish than they can eat probably.

[Kukelke]

Right now Nellie has accepted the fish, picked one up and is feeding the chicks. So far only the oldest (Nel) got fed, and he pecked at Tag (the younger). A little later Tag was allowed to eat too.





EDIT:

Video of the feeding:

[youtube]2dN4MfYysiQ&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

[Uta]

Thank you very much Kukelke, for this wonderful update. That is for me the best news from this day.
I have reading on Facebook any articles over this nest.So i hope the luck will go on for Nellie and the two little ospreys.

[Kukelke]

There has been a second feeding too meanwhile, (but I haven't any pictures of them as I was taking pictures of the ringing of the osplets in Latvia) - both Nelson chicks ate well the second feeding too.