All About Osprey

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macdoum
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Re: All About Osprey

Post by macdoum »

:puzzled: For the moment an osprey has two nests going ;

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tay ... l-27810357

I have heard of Peregrines keeping two nests,but for opsreys it seems unheard of. :slap:
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Kukelke
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Post by Kukelke »

I don't know how to describe how shocked I am when I saw this:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 254&type=1

The ringing of wild ospreys on a nest in Abersfoyle, Scotland. The osplets are ringed, and then lots of children and adults are allowed to touch and pet and maul them. They are weighed hanging upside down, and there are even two loose dogs visible...

And that while ospreys have the highest degree of protection in Scotland, and that a stressful event like ringing should be done as quick and smooth as possible in order to reduce the stress to an absolute minimum.
I'm disgusted that this is possible in Europe in 2014; turning ospreys into a tourist attraction and circus act. This is not how you should educate children about conservation and protection of wildlife!

I suggest people disagreeing with this to leave a comment on their facebook in the link above, and condemn the way they handled these birds.

:rant: :rant: :rant:

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EDIT:

The events as described above made the people at Aberfoyle take away both the pictures and the torrent of negative comments from their facebook (or they closed that entry altogether, not sure how it works on facebook), but as you see, the evidence is still here.

I don't think it was ill-meant by them, but just sheer stupidity of the ringer to allow this circus to happen, even when the excuse was education. The well-being of the birds should always be in focus, education or not.

I hope they come with an apology soon and promise this will never happen again.
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Post by Jo UK »

kukelke, thank you for bringing this unpleasant fact to the notice of all here. I have just tried the link to that FB page - it is unavailable.
Let's hope that those people will have learned by this experience, and never repeat anything like it.
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Post by Kukelke »

They made a statement on their facebook on July 9, still not admitting they might have done something wrong (https://www.facebook.com/aberfoyle.ospreys).
In the comments some heavy-weights in British osprey conservation have spoken out against this practise, and today the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) have stated in a comment that they will investigate the case.

Also local newspapers covered the case:

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Post by lianaliesma »

Kukelke wrote:I don't know how to describe how shocked I am when I saw this:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 254&type=1 ...
:cry: :rant: :cry: :bow:

I subscribe every word Kukelke has written... I pray that all people get to know how important is to guard the animals and birds from people intervention, noise, disturbance. To study be still in and with Nature....
We are living in a dangerous age. Human beings dominate nature, before they have learned to control themselves. -Albert Schweitzer
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macdoum
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Post by macdoum »

Some disturbing behavior from the mother osprey at this nest.;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_SuIbqFJjA

At Woods Hole oceanographic inst.

Video byscyllabub

Today she has been constantly aggressing her three chicks. :slap: :puzzled:
(I don't know more)
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macdoum
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Post by macdoum »

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Chimega
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Post by Chimega »

macdoum wrote:Some disturbing behavior from the mother osprey at this nest.;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_SuIbqFJjA

At Woods Hole oceanographic inst.

Video byscyllabub

Today she has been constantly aggressing her three chicks. :slap: :puzzled:
(I don't know more)
A fledgling was apparently killed and pulled off the nest, today. It appears to be another fledgling who did the killing. I don't know what to think, other than there is something seriously wrong at that nest. :cry:
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Post by Malewitsch »

macdoum wrote:Is this the future for ospreys ?

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... r-you.aspx
Osprey nest on electric pole. Brandenburg State near Berlin:
Nest prepairing in April 2011 & 2014


https://www.sielmann-stiftung.de/projek ... m-aufwind/

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http://www.storchennest.de/forum/viewto ... &start=405
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joey
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Post by joey »

Chimega wrote: A fledgling was apparently killed and pulled off the nest, today. It appears to be another fledgling who did the killing. I don't know what to think, other than there is something seriously wrong at that nest. :cry:
there is a video:


Addition by mod:
Caution!
Video contains cruel and disturbing scenes - please be aware of this!
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Chimega
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Post by Chimega »

Yep, I had already seen the video but didn't post it. But now there is other news that this is going on, over and over and the "other" chick may actually be another from the same nest and the one being attacked may not have been killed but was playing dead. I've never heard of that before but have seen the exact same thing happen on the Hog Island nest between 2 siblings. The attacker also attacked both parents off and on during the day. And now, it's apparently happened on the Hellgate nest, today!

Whoops, that Hellgate attack wasn't today. It was around a month ago but it was reposted, again, making it look like today/yesterday. My bad. :blush:
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Kukelke
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Post by Kukelke »

Fantastic osprey news from the Netherlands

Today it became officially known that this summer ospreys have built nests in the Netherlands. Yes, you read indeed nests, plural. Not one, but two nests! :loveshower:
As far as I know ospreys haven't been breeding in the Netherlands for centuries, so this is very special.

Article in Dutch:
21-08-2014

Voor het eerst hebben visarenden nesten gebouwd in Nationaal Park de Biesbosch. En meteen twee ook. De zeearend heeft afgelopen jaar al met twee paartjes succesvol gebroed in de Biesbosch. De hoop is nu ook gevestigd op een broedgeval van de visarend.

Uniek

"Door de vele natuurontwikkelingsprojecten in het kader van Ruimte voor de Rivier is de Biesbosch de laatste jaren flink uitgebreid", aldus boswachter Thomas van der Es, boswachter in de Biesbosch. "Het zoetwatergetijdengebied is daardoor een nog aantrekkelijkere plek geworden als jacht-en broedgebied voor de visarend."

"Het is uniek dat de visarenden dit jaar de hele zomer in de Biesbosch verbleven. Normaal gebruiken ze Nederland als tussenstop op hun trekroute van hun zomergebieden in het noorden en oosten van Europa en de gebieden waar ze in de winter verblijven, zoals het Middellandse Zeegebied en Afrika."

Drie visarenden

Er zijn minimaal drie verschillende visarenden gezien in de Biesbosch deze zomer. Soms vliegend met flinke takken die gebruikt worden als nestmateriaal. In augustus werden de vermoedens bevestigd en vonden boswachters van Staatsbosbeheer een tweetal nesten in hoogspanningsmasten. Dit jaar zijn de nesten nog niet gebruikt, maar het zou kunnen dat de nesten gebouwd zijn om volgend jaar als broedplek te dienen. Voor zover bekend is er alleen in 2002 ook een nest gebouwd in de Oostvaardersplassen. Hierin is uiteindelijk niet succesvol gebroed.

Image

Zomervogel

Nu de najaarstrek is aangevangen verblijven er meerdere visarenden in Nederland. Vaak verblijven de vogels enige tijd in visrijke gebieden, voordat ze weer doortrekken naar hun overwinteringsgebied in onder andere Afrika. Visarenden blijven tot halverwege oktober in Nederland. Visarenden keren weer terug in Nederland uit hun overwinteringsgebieden vanaf april.

Zeearend en visarend

Sinds 2012 broeden er zeearenden in Nationaal park de Biesbosch. In 2014 waren er zelfs twee succesvolle broedgevallen met een totaal van 4 jonge vogels. De visarend is een slag kleiner dan de ‘vliegende deur’ en heeft een vleugelspanwijdte van ruim anderhalve meter. Visarenden eten enkel vis en vangen die op spectaculaire wijze uit het water. Op hoogte van soms wel 30 meter hangt een visarend biddend boven het water en met een enorme duik pakt hij met zijn stevige klauwen grote (wit)vis. Zeearenden en visarenden zijn concurrenten van elkaar en het is dan ook de vraag of ze in de toekomst beide in Nationaal Park de Biesbosch kunnen broeden.

http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/Nieuws%20 ... bosch.aspx
English translation (by me):

21-08-2014

For the first time Ospreys have built nests in National Park De Biesbosch. And straight off two too. Two White Tailed Eagle pairs have already been breeding with succes in De Biesbosch this year. The hopes are now that also the ospreys will start to breed.

Unique

"Because of many nature development projects within the framework 'Room for the River', De Biesbosch has been expanding the last couple of years", according to Thomas van der Es, forest ranger in De Biesbosch. "The freshwater tidal wetlands have become an even more attractive hunting and breeding area for ospreys."

"It's unique that ospreys stayed all summer long in De Biesbosch this year. Normally they use the Netherlands as a stop-over on their migration route between their summer breeding grounds in northern and eastern Europe and the areas where they spend the winter, like the Mediterranean and Africa."

Three ospreys

At least three different ospreys have been sighted in De Biesbosch this summer. Sometimes flying with large branches which are used as nest material. In August the suspicions were confirmed when forest rangers from Staatsbosbeheer found two nests in power pylons. This year the nests haven't been used, but it could be that they are built to serve as breeding nests next year. As far as is known only in 2002 there was a nest building attempt at the Oostvaardersplassen. No successful breeding occured here.

Summer bird

Now that autumn migration has begun more ospreys are spotted in the Netherlands. Often the birds stay for a while in areas where fish is abundant before moving on again to their wintering grounds in Africa among others. Ospreys stay in the Netherlands until halfway October and return again from April onwards.

White Tailed Eagle and Osprey

Since 2012 white tailed eagles have been breeding in National Park De Biesbosch. In 2014 there were even two succesful nests with a total of four fledged chicks. The osprey is a bit smaller than 'the flying door' and has a wingspan of about 1,5 meter. Ospreys eat fish only, and the way they catch it is spectacular. From a height of sometimes 30 meter they hover over the water surface and with an enormous plunge they grab the fish with their powerful talons. White tailed eagles and ospreys are food competitors and the question is if both could breed in National Park De Biesbosch in the future.


------------

Some other articles about the same event (all in Dutch):

http://www.omroepbrabant.nl/?news/21568 ... uniek.aspx

http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/2299 ... sch__.html
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Post by Kukelke »

Some more information about the recently discovered osprey nests in the Netherlands from the blog of one of the forest rangers of the national park where the nests are situated:

Original Dutch text: http://www.boswachtervanderneut.nl/item.php?item=221

My translation (so beware of grammar and spelling mistakes :laugh: ):
In August and September many ospreys are about in the Biesbosch. "This year there were socalled 'oversummering' ospreys and they have puzzled together two nests," said forester Thomas van der Es of the Forestry Commission. "I don't think that this ever happened before."

The Osprey is in our country known as a transmigrant. The predominantly fish-eating birds of prey do not breed in the Netherlands, although occasionally there is a nest building attempt. The last time this happened was in July 2002. Back then employees of the State discovered a nest in the Oostvaardersplassen. There, a female was seen dragging with branches. Everyone looked forward to the following spring, but unfortunately the osprey couple was absent then. "As far as I can tell, ospreys have never done something like this in the Biesbosch before. Both nests which we recently found here are also the first for De Biesbosch. The Ospreys didn't build their sheds in trees, but on the cross sections of power pylons. "That situation is unique for the Netherlands, but in other countries it's a well known fact. For many years Ospreys have been building nests in power pylons in the Müritz National Park, a top-noth water area with numerous lakes in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. However, the masts there are considerably lower. "Both nests in the Biesbosch apparently look like constructions of black crows, but when you get closer you'll see that they are much larger, a meter in diameter; in addition there are also long, thick branches woven in."

Nest baskets

"It's probably that one of the two osprey nests originally was a crow's nest, that is, ospreys at least used the existing crow's nest as a starting point and filled it with more branches. "Since ospreys like to linger in De Biesbosch, the Forestry Commission in May 2003 decided to urge the osprey to breed here. In order to lend the birds a helping hand aluminum nest baskets were placed in various power pylons. "In 'Polder the Turfzakken' you can clearly see the basket hanging in the power pylon, but the ospreys leave that basket alone, and rather build their nest at another place in the very same mast. About the continuation of these nests it's difficult to say anything. Will the exact same birds return to these locations? Are the nests still there next spring, or will the branches all be blown off the masts during the first tempestuous autumn storm?" Supposed that the osprey would settle permanently as a breeding bird here, how would the white tailed eagles react on this? Will they tolerate each other or fight each other to the death? "Indeed an interesting question, but let us first welcome the osprey as a breeding bird once again. That would be nice, and after that we'll see what happens", concludes Van der Es.

The picture below was made by Niels van Pelt, using digiscope:

Image
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macdoum
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Post by macdoum »

Do you want to vote for best video ? Choose here;


This was on Montana FB see that shows that voting is still going on.

https://www.facebook.com/OspreyDocumentary

Theatrical Trailer 1, July 17, 2012

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150965283850878

Theatrical Trailer 2, May 27, 2014

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=590439204387835

And this is the completed five-minute short documentary
Be sure to watch the added OSPREY: Behind the Scenes

http://www.rodemic.com/myrodereel/watch/1201

Thanks to Cas on WVF :2thumbsup:
Carmel a member of SHOW .. I hope you love birds too. Its economical. It saves going to heaven.
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macdoum
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Post by macdoum »

An Aberfoyle nest tug-of-war well worth watching;

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=14 ... =2&theater

Greedy osprey. :rotf:
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Post by Kukelke »

Some more news about the recently discovered osprey nests in the Netherlands.

The local forest ranger said on Twitter yesterday that one of the nests is still growing and that a 2-year old osprey was perched somewhere above it:

Image

https://twitter.com/ThomasvanderEs/stat ... 93/photo/1

This tells me that these ospreys really mean business, and it bodes good for next year, so hopefully they will start to breed in the Netherlands then, for the first time in centuries. :D
Malewitsch

Post by Malewitsch »

Thanks, Kukelke for the information. Do you know whether there will be a osprey nest cam installed next season as we have one in Brandenburg-State near Berlin?

https://www.sielmann-stiftung.de/projek ... er-webcam/

https://www.sielmann-stiftung.de/projek ... m-aufwind/
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Post by Kukelke »

Ferenz wrote:Thanks, Kukelke for the information. Do you know whether there will be a osprey nest cam installed next season as we have one in Brandenburg-State near Berlin?
I've written an email with a couple of questions to the authorities of the national park where the nests are discovered. Among them a question about a possible webcam. I'll keep you updated when I hear something.
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Post by Janne+Ais »

Who has time to translate?
Here is a unbelievable story about an osprey, which was shot in Bielefeld, Germany:
http://www.nw-news.de/owl/bielefeld/mit ... ossen.html
But maybe there will be a happy end:
http://www.nw-news.de/owl/11240750_Biel ... _Reha.html
Let's keep our fingers/talons crossed!
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macdoum
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Post by macdoum »

Paul Wildlifewriter asks; What is the use of Sattelite tracking anyway ?
What's the use of satellite tracking, anyway?

It's a question that regularly crops up on the non-science forums and social media sites. Those who ask it often load the question with some opinion to the effect that “we already know where these birds spend the winter, so what is the point of continuing to track them?” But the birds themselves provide the answer to this...

Increasingly, ecological research is getting down to the fine details of animal behaviour: things that only advanced technologies – close-up video cameras and microphones, and high-resolution data gathering – can uncover. These days, and probably for the first time in history, we are beginning to study bird behaviour in the wild on the scales at which birds themselves operate. And the observations are revealing.

Osprey “Birgit” fledged from a nest in southern Finland in August 2014 and, as part of a programme run by the Natural History Museum of Finland, was fitted with a GSM datalogger / transmitter unit. She duly migrated south-west over the Baltic and decided to make a stopover near the Ijsselmeer in Holland. Birgit's “2nd generation” tracker unit is able to record her position, speed and altitude every two minutes, varying this sample rate automatically according to her level of activity.

Birgit found that the flat fields and canals of the Dutch polder were much to her liking, and began to hunt for fish there – probably the first time in her young life that she had done this. The detailed satellite tracking shows that Birgit has instinctively adopted the usual foraging strategy for an osprey. She has some favourite trees for roosting, but does not visit the same places every day to hunt for fish. Instead, Birgit has prospected over a corridor that is some 20km in length, from the towns of Lemmer in the north to beyond Emmeloord in the south.

The fact that even juvenile ospreys – though not the most effective hunters, due to their inexperience – do not repeatedly exploit a single food source is important information, and Birgit has provided confirmation of it. In an increasingly crowded world, people and wildlife can come into conflict, and one charge often levelled at ospreys by the recreational angling community is that they “eat all the fish and then move on, leaving none for us to catch.” But this is wrong, and the latest technological tools are helping conservationists to prove it.


Birgit's autumn sojourn in Holland is just as useful to us as it is (no doubt) to her.
A study of Finnish Osprey Birgit. :thumbs:
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