Bits and Pieces

Happy August 17th! Many of you have noticed that the osprey camera is frozen at the moment, and we are currently working to fix it, no need to worry. As August progresses, our feathery friends continue to grow and experience new things every day.

My family and I recently returned from vacation and have not been around to make many observations, but we will keep our eyes peeled and keep you up to date!

Spitz relaxing on our boat lift, much to COM’s disapproval

Here’s a quick update for those of you who are going through withdrawal. COM has a direct feed to the ospreycam which has not been affected by the camera malfunction, so we kept our eyes open today.  At the moment, Audrey is resting in the nest, beside a pinecone. We are not sure which genius brought the pinecone back (probably attached to a branch). It doesn’t seem to be serving a purpose at the moment other than providing a cozy atmosphere.

“Careful” landings

Earlier today there were five crows and a seagull on the nest, pecking at some leftover fish. There were no ospreys to be seen, and the interlopers seemed to be enjoying their stay at Casa de Tom and Audrey. All of a sudden, one of our adult ospreys (we’re not sure which one) came swooping in out of nowhere and chased the intruders away. Take that, crows and seagull!

As I write this, Audrey is sitting all by herself on the nest.  Spitz has come back twice in rapid succession, each time with a branch.  When she (?) brought the first branch back, which was quite large and oddly shaped, it ended up on Audrey’s back.  Audrey looked at Spitz as if to say, “Really?”, and then rearranged herself until the stick landed in the nest where it belonged.  Spitz took off, and immediately returned with another less cumbersome stick.  She deposited this stick in the nest without incident, and then took off again.  Right now, Audrey is all by herself in the nest, finally some peace and quiet.

This morning, Mrs. COM noticed one of our juveniles on the center perch with a fish. We are not sure if the young one had caught the fish, but it seemed like it had. Unfortunately, it flew off before we could get close enough for a photo and a good look at the feathers. Most other years, we have been able to walk out on our dock without seeming to disturb whoever was in the nest. But this year, Spitz is not happy at all when she is in the nest, and one of us walks out onto the dock.  She is getting very good at making the distinctive danger sound.

Taking Flight

As usual, I am going to update every one on the ospreys whereabouts. The two babies have been sitting in a neighbor’s really big tree two houses to the north of us.  They like to perch near the top.  Tom frequently visits the tree in our next door neighbor’s house directly to the north of us.  We have also seen our ospreys on our neighbor’s boat lift two houses to the south of us. This year, although the family hasn’t been using the perches as much as others have in years past, both the adults and juveniles do hang out there occasionally.

Breezy and Spitz hanging out on the perches

Many of you on Facebook have noticed that many long skinny fish have been brought back to the nest, we think that they are Garfish. Recently, we were outside baiting the crab traps at the end of the dock and saw groups of these same fish swimming just beneath the surface of the water. This is a perfect source of food for the osprey, really easy pickings! While we’re on the fish topic, I really appreciate everyone’s help with the fish survey, I could not do it without you guys.

Garfish

[http://www.charterboats-uk.co.uk/fish/garfish/]

That is all I have for today, thank you so much for reading the blogs and my apologies for not being here to make more observations! I know that a lot of you rely on the Crazy Osprey Family when our feathery family is not on the nest.

*Just as I was finishing up this blog and ready to post, Spitz flew into the nest with a HUGE menhaden, still flapping!  She is happily eating away.  In between bites, she is squawking!  Why am I not surprised at that?  Great catch, Spitz!  Where is Breezy when you need him?

Here is this week’s winner in the “Where in the World Are Tom and Audrey” contest”.  Keep sending in those entries to be eligible for the grand prize at the end of the 2014 osprey season.

Jim watching from Nauset Beach on Cape Cod, Massachusetts during the August super moon!

Adios Amigos,

Until Next Time,

Osprey Girl

 

 

 

 

School Days

Happy August 4th everyone! I hope all our viewers with empty nest syndrome are doing well, it’s not fatal, I promise.

COM’s photography-How artistic!

Remember, you can click on each photo to enlarge for your viewing pleasure.

There have been some major changes around the nest thanks to Breezy and Spitz. They have both begun to fish, a very important skill to learn for obvious reasons. I know that many of you noticed one of Breezy’s recent catches. Just a few days ago, Breezy proudly brought home a blue crab. This year has been incredibly terrible for crabbing, at least at our house. Reproduction has significantly decreased while the demand for blue crabs has remained the same. Another reason for the decrease in the blue crab population is the scarcity of bay grasses. Bay grasses are a three- in- one deal. They keep the water clean, as well as provide food and shelter for animals such as our crabby friends. Unfortunately, pollutants, humans, and waterfowl have hindered the growth of these important plants. While bay grasses are now beginning to thrive in early August, be sure to keep the scarcity of bay grasses in mind the next time you are on a boat. Follow the posted speed limits in shallow waters to avoid pulling the grasses out with your propeller and obviously, never dump your waste into our precious water!

With that mini lesson out of the way, back to the birds. Since crabs usually hang out among the grasses on the bottom of the bay, the one that Breezy caught was probably swimming near the surface. Breezy must have been really confused, surprised and disappointed when his family was not happy with his proud catch.  The crab remained in the nest for a couple of days, and disappeared.

Just a few minutes ago, Spitz found himself in an altercation with some crows. Although I didn’t see the beginning of the incident, we think Spitz had a piece of fish in the nest.  What we did see was when out of nowhere, several crows began to dive bomb him. Spitz then took off and the crows followed, dive-bombing and bullying him. Screeching and evasive flying ensued until the crows flew off and Spitz returned to the nest. We then noticed a crow sitting on the boat lift eating a piece of fish. We assume that the crows took the fish from Spitz, and despite his efforts, our youngest osprey couldn’t win it back from the gang of robber crows.  The fish was lost, but skilled flying was practiced. There’s a life lesson for you, Spitz.

Not only crows try to steal fish from our osprey.  Here is one of our young ones after a fish in flight:

 

Bringing home the bacon (fish bacon) with a young escort

 

Three of our family on the dock two doors to the south of us.  Tom likes to hang out on the swim ladder and eat, his family members are just enjoying some time away from the nest.

I spy an osprey with a fish (hint: he’s on the left)

The birds continue to spend time at their favorite hangout spots: our neighbor’s tree, our boat lift, our dock and the three perches. Yesterday, we saw father and child sitting on the same perch; even though there are three perches, the center one is obviously the best.

Sharing is sometimes not so caring

That is all I have to share with you guys for today, have a great week and I will talk to you soon!

Keep sending in your “Where In The World” photos to Tom_audrey_osprey@yahoo.com.  Here is the winner for this week (can you top this to win the Grand Prize at the end of the osprey season?).

 

Rachael watching from the airport in Helsinki, Finland

P.S. Thank you again for all of the fish updates!  Keep them coming, please!

Adios Amigos,

Until next time,

Osprey Girl