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OspreyZone Playlist
An Intro to OspreyZone
The Story of DDT
Osprey Rescue
2020 Clips
Bald Eagles Visit Nest
Ospreyzone Highlights: May 21-29, 2020
OspreyZone Highlights: May 15-20, 2020 - The Intruder
OspreyZone Highlights: May 7th-14th, 2020
OspreyZone Highlights: April 15-21, 2020
OspreyZone Yankee
March 18, 2016 Timelapse
The Summer of 2015 by GinaM
Osprey Rescue Extended - July 30, 2015
Osprey Zone Highlights - June 28, 2015
Osprey Zone Highlights - June 19, 2015
osprey 07/11/15 squirt
First Sighting
George and Gracie's First Baby
Eggs Over Easy
Changing of the Guard
Breakfast is Served
Upgrading
Feeding Time
First Love
Let's Hang Out
Hard to Get
Little Brother
Intruder
Dinner is Served
OspreyZone Montage

OspreyZone Highlights: George Returns
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Please be advised that nature can be brutal – viewer discretion is advised.
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Special Thanks to Tommy and Christina: George & Gracie’s Landlords
Belle’s Journey
Written by Dr. Rob Bierregaard & Illustrated by Kate Garchinsky
Take flight with Belle, an osprey born on Martha’s Vineyard as she learns to fly and migrates for the first time to Brazil and back–a journey of more than 8,000 miles.
IMPORTANT: Messages from osprey experts
I haven’t seen the little guy yet this morning, but I would be very surprised if he survived the night. That sure was tough to watch yesterday, but that whole process is as much a part of the essence of being an Osprey as is eating a fish. It’s part of the life of Ospreys that was rarely seen before we started putting cameras in nests. As hard as it is, we should not label the behavior as mean or cruel. Being mean or cruel implies that there is intent to do harm just for harm’s sake. Those young were responding to a set of stimuli (very little food being delivered to the nest and the presence of a very small young) in a way that evolution has hard-wired into them. It helps ensure their survival. Nature is not cruel. It is harsh, unforgiving, and often random (had the little guy been born 1st, he would have been just as aggressive as was his sibling), but not cruel or mean.
Paul Henry ospreyzone July 1, 2015 at 8:17 am
Thanks Rob for bringing your knowledge and experience to help us all gain perspective here. We are all saddened by the events that unfolded before our eyes and it’s only natural for all of us to feel and express our emotions appropriately. There have been many issues pertaining to intervention which have been discussed amongst us all. There is no doubt in my mind that the right decision was made, to let nature take it’s course. By the way, that doesn’t equate to heartless, on the contrary, nobody feels worse about this then the apparent decision makers. I say apparent, because when all was said and done, and all the issues were properly weighed, there really weren’t any other options. It was clearly pointed out, by experts, that intervening at this stage could have spooked the whole nest to the point of losing all the young. If the little one was saved, and nursed back to health, what kind of a life would it have had, perhaps caged up in a zoo. I remember when I was younger I saw a golden eagle in captivity, caged behind a wire mesh. I could practically see it’s tears. As far as placing the little one in another nest, such a low probability of success would never have justified the possibility of spooking the nest. There’s a piece of me, however heavy hearted, that believes that perhaps it is better to be born free and die free. We mourn for the little one as we marvel at the wonders of nature.
Hello Paul,
Thanks for your query, and you have my admiration for persevering. We know very well how tough your job is, including dealing with an anxious public.
Our policy with our Bird Cams project is essentially “just say no” to pleas for interference. The behavior you are witnessing – while seemingly cruel and heartless to us – is natural for many kinds of birds, especially those that feed on variable, unpredictable food supplies. The little nestling does have a chance to survive, but if it does not then that result was “meant to be” by the nature of Osprey breeding strategy. The wonderful things about these nest cameras also sometimes yield the difficult things for us to watch. As you might know, we actually post a “siblicide alert” on some of our cams where we suspect the possibility exists.
I’m copying your note to Charles Eldermire, project leader for our Bird Cams. He may have some additional comments, and he would be the one to ask if we might be able to use your stored files for biological analysis.
Best wishes, and good luck,
John W. Fitzpatrick
Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
It’s also important to acknowledge that intervening can also cause problems of its own—depending on the ages of the birds in the nest, disturbing them can trigger an early fledge. We have restricted the scenarios in which we would even consider intervening to injuries or dangers that are explicitly human-derived. For example, 3 or 4 years ago we were alerted by viewers that one of the osprey chicks at the Hellgate Osprey nest was entangled in monofilament line. We consulted with our partners there (wildlife biologists, raptor researchers, raptor rehabbers) to determine if the monofilament was an issue, and if intervening was both likely to solve the issue AND not have bad effects on the other nestlings. In the end, a quick trip to the nest was scheduled via a bucket truck, the monofilament was removed, and the nestlings all eventually fledged. In that case, all of the permits were already in hand to be studying the ospreys, and we had already discussed how to approach issues in the nest.
Good luck to the young one—hope it all turns out well.
charles.
*******************
Charles Eldermire
Bird Cams Project Leader
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
I’ve been to your site—great cam! And I noticed the runt in the nest. This is just normal Osprey reproduction. It happens all the time and you should not intervene. It’s tough to watch, but it’s how nature works. Ospreys almost always lay 3 eggs and on average fledge between 1 and 1.5 young each year. They stagger the hatch so there is a spread of ages in the young. That way, if food is short, the first-hatched (and therefore largest) will get enough food to survive while the smaller nest mates do not. If all three young were the same size and there was only enough food for 1 young, none of the young would get enough food and they would all die. If there’s lots of food, the smallest will eventually get fed and can survive. These nest cams can show some gut-wrenching scenes. The most infamous perhaps was one of the very first Osprey cams (on Long Island somewhere), where the smallest young died. One of the adults carried it out of the nest and after several minutes flew back into the nest and fed it to the other young. Waste-not-want-not at its goriest. At Hog Island up in Maine just last week a Bald Eagle came in and took the young out of the nest. Last year at another nest, cameras documented a Great-horned Owl taking young Ospreys out of a nest in NJ or MD. All of these things have been going on for millions of years and Ospreys are doing fine.
Rob Bierregaard
Academy of Natural Sciences
Drexel University
http://www.ospreytrax.com
Hi! Hopefully all enjoyed the summer- and fall!
Been a bit gloomy for me. I’m grouchy enough even before the everlasting overcast…
So trick or treat…
Smell my feet
Bring me something good to eat!
Stay well!
Hang in there, Carol!
Exciting news from Peconic Landing in Greenport:
Our Osprey is occupied!
We now would like a camera! What are the recommendations?
Hi Jamie, I don’t know what type cam is used here, but Axis has very good cameras!
Hi All,
Wondering what is coming for this nest camera? Is it ever going to be back on or can I just write this one off my list
I sure hope not because this was my first and my favorite!
Hi Paula, I reached out weeks ago to say it was down and received no reply, so I am not hopeful for it going live stream anytime soon. This fall I will try and find out if the cam will be raised, adjusted, for next year.
Thank you Mary Anne for the update It was nice to read somethiing about the cam I thought the site & cam was abandoned
Thanks for the reply. I’ll keep checking back for info.
I am amazed at chick 4 at Patchogue nest…Mom found his little head and he is getting fed….
Thank you, Mary Anne for your reply. Sorry about their privacy wall . Disappointing. I’ll keep checking.
Hi all. Looking for George & whoever he hooked up with this year. Has anyone been to the nest yet?
Hi Roberta, George is with Lucy, and this is his third year with her. But they blocked the nest with sticks so it’s unlikely we will be able to see anything for the rest of the season. If they have chicks, we will be able to hear them.
Sorry to ask this here, not sure where else to go…..Does anyone know what happened to the eggs on the Patchogue PSEG nest ? I thought there were 4 eggs, but I only see one little bobblehead. Thanks for any info or suggestions.
They all hatched, Nancy, there are 4 chicks.
Ooooofff – that 4th one is SO far behind the others. I thought the 3rd one was going to have an issue. I hope 4 is strong enough to hold his own and not go the way our beloved PeeWee did so many years ago!
Looking good so far!
I’m only seeing 3 on the Patchogue nest. As for the Oyster Bay nest, I only got a glimpse of 3 eggs.
There are 4 chicks at Patchogue, keep watching, 4th is very small but is being fed. Yes, 3 eggs at Oyster bay.
Good morning to all!
What was a random check in turned into a peaceful concert 🎶…. Our friend Mr. Mocker paused in his rounds to give us a listen to his repertoire . And Lucy chimed in! I think she spurred him on because he went on for at least 5 mins. You could just see her in that right corner with some wing flutters as she sang with him….. and then I heard G off in the distance.
Yesterday I had a sparrow in the house. I saw
movement in the corner of the livingroom and looked up to see her? Him? On the window molding.
My bigboy, Harry, can open my old door and since it was so nice, I left it open to air out the house. Of course, never saw bird come in. Door got closed
Anyhow, it couldn’t have gone better. Left door and windows open and with some gentle guidance little guy found a way out . Who’s the birdbrain now?