Hellgate Osprey Webcam

[Cessie]

Chimega, poor Iris!

[Chimega]

From: Cornell Lab Bird Cams Project



My video:

[Chimega]

oops, double post

[Cessie]

Iris and Louis Have a Hatch!!!
So happy for them!
First chick for Iris and Louis as a couple!

Congratulations

[Malewitsch]

First hatch

[Cessie]

Ferenz, beautiful pictures!
Thank you!

Yes!!!
So thrilled for Iris and Louis!!

EDIT: Oops, Only One Hatch! They were replaying the First Hatch on the camera! I've never seen that done before.

[Malewitsch]

Bob1

[Chimega]

2nd chick hatched overnight - June 5, 2017

Iris feeds 1st chick, new chick not strong enough to beg, yet.



Louis delivers a medium size fish and feeds Iris, then Iris feeds the chicks.

[Chimega]

One of the chicks wandered away from Iris over night got stuck in the crib rails and died. It is still stuck in between the sticks but it died early Tuesday morning.

[Solo]

One of the chicks wandered away from Iris over night got stuck in the crib rails and died. It is still stuck in between the sticks but it died early Tuesday morning.

OMG ( I like this nest - it was my first)

from FB (https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 2613556909)
Hi all,
We never said it was going to be easy!! The osprey roller-coaster continues this morning.
It seems that the oldest of the two chicks crawled out from underneath Iris in the middle of the night. It wandered over to the right hand side of the nest near the edge. The chicks can't thermoregulate on their own yet, and it was quite chilly last night. It has not moved for quite a while, and I suspect it died pretty quickly by losing heat.
In all the years we have watched chicks at this nest we have never seen this before. This chick seemed extremely energetic and vigorous, but we have no idea what prompted it to leave the warm comfort of Iris and wander away. As hard as this news is, perhaps a consolation is that it was unlikely that all four chicks (if the other two eggs hatch) would have survived to fledge.
This also emphasizes again how difficult it is to survive and become a breeding adult osprey. Breeding pairs, like Iris and Louis, are extremely valuable. For an osprey population to remain stable over time, a breeding pair only has to replace themselves with two chicks that survive to breed themselves. We estimate that Iris and her mates have produced at least 8-10 individuals who are now breeding. So overall, Iris has been a net producer and helped keep osprey populations at good levels around here.
I said a couple of days ago that what we are watching is not a movie that always has a happy ending. What this camera allows us to experience first hand are the challenges that wild animals face every single day.
Cheers, Erick Greene

and video: https://youtu.be/3ehTbXi4DVs

[Chimega]

I know what they are saying and have watched the video as well. To me, that chick was in some sort of distressed. If you watch or watched it, you may notice it never closed it's mouth or beak. It was about as wide open as it can get and it stayed that way for the entire time it wandered around the nest. It acted like something was wrong. Then when it fell into the sticks at the edge of the nest, it appeared to be gasping, then fell over and we saw it no more. I don't know what else to think other than it couldn't breathe for some reason. That or it was sick but no clue why. It is very sad to me as this was Louis' first chick and it seemed extraordinarily strong from the moment it hatched. Then suddenly, this happened. We will never know, either. That's upsetting but nothing we can do about it.

[Chimega]

[Malewitsch]

[Malewitsch]

[Malewitsch]

Louis returned with the fish and Iris took over to continue feed of the big bobs.
At least little bob got some bites..

[Malewitsch]

Iris & chicks in awaiting breakfish....

[Cessie]

tough times at Hellgate!
Hopefully Louis is fine and will show up soon with fish!

I'm sending prayers and positive thoughts for Iris and the chicks!

[Malewitsch]

Hellgate, MT: Brave Louis returned with fish at least

[Malewitsch]

Hellgate, MT

[Cessie]

Ferenz!!!
Such great news!!!
Whew!