IMPORTANT: Messages from osprey experts

It’s been snowing about 2 hrs. with small flakes, steady…….may snow till about 10 pm…………..

The camera has been showing the death spiral off and on and making that clacky noise………..hope it holds out!

It snowed overnight, thru the morning…it was light, fluffy snow and came off the car easily. I wasn’t home to get a shot earlier, but I scrolled back for this nice late-day shot as the sky turned pink and gray. The sun had been out in the afternoon, causing some melting. Cold temps(low 20s, possible teens in places) will refreeze all the snow melt. Could be dangerous walking and possible black ice.

Got a copy of the calendar and another good job! Thank you, Alizarin and your helper, Rjoneal, for all your hard work!

This am

Festival of Lights………………….starts at sundown………

This is pic from Emily last year after the snow at the nest, miss you Emily…

6/22/2017 Gracie and George

Holiday pic for today is Rocky our star from 2016 enjoy

2017 Solar

Tomorrow is the first day of December so here is a pic I posted in 2016 in December.

Pic 7/27/2016 Gracie and George

Geese heading by to their night quarters…………

2017 George feeding Solar

December 3rd
Full Cold Moon
10:47 am
The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon – December During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun…………….(info from Farmers’ Almanac)

Last full moon of 2017……………………only 84% full and looks bright already! Weather crisp and clear….low wind…..about 51 going to mid 40s overnight….next few days should be similar, maybe dropping to 30s overnight this weekend. Looks like a nice clear night for full moon Sat. night

Gracie and Solar watched as Eclipse was flying to the nest. Artistic license posted on a public forum. Still can’t figure out how to get a screenshot after a gazillion pictures without stopping the video stream.

So, you guys know me and my feelings on printing on pictures (or cropped funny). These are from 7/26/2016 when the juvenile intruder landed on the nest. I didn’t have the original pictures after the computer crash monster ate them last November. Both of these were posted by others that I liked as I was going back through the comment pages, but …

So I touched them up. Tell me what you think about how they came out. The first pictures are my touch-ups of each set and the second is the original.

Here in Florida were I live we have Ospreys all year long as you know from me posting my Backyard Ospreys but here is a YOU-TUBE channel actually called My Backyard Birding and today they posted several different looks of Ospreys. Our Ospreys mate and start their families different from the migrating Osprey. If you have time to watch video you should every one is a beautiful Osprey.

Here is the info about Florida Ospreys, just an interesting point to bring to your attention the Ospreys here in Florida did not get affected by pesticide-related population declines in 1950s – 1960s. Here is a few shots of the ospreys in video. .

https://youtu.be/MPebPmUmiBA

MyBackyardBirding
Published on Nov 26, 2017
SUBSCRIBED 21K

It is Osprey Season again – also known as Fish Hawks – watching four different Ospreys watching on the same Morning. I think two of these are young Osprey. Real territory selection battles and serious calling wont start for about another month. The cycle of Osprey life continues but Ospreys are even more visible now than last season.

Appearance:
The undersides of the toes on each foot are covered with short spines, which help them grasp slippery fish.
Habitat:
The osprey is smaller than the bald eagles that typically share the same habitats, but its five to six foot wingspan is impressive nonetheless. Adults are dark brown above with a white underside and head. Look for the distinctive dark line that extends behind the eye and the gull-like way the narrow wings are angled downward when the birds are in flight.
The osprey is found year-round in Florida both as a nesting species and as a spring and fall migrant passing between more northern areas and Central and South America. Ospreys in Florida did not suffer the serious pesticide-related population declines that occurred in other states in the 1950s and 1960s. Pesticides, shoreline development and declining water quality continue to threaten the abundance and availability of food and nest sites for ospreys.
Behavior:
Ospreys, also known as “fish hawks,” are expert anglers that like to hover above the water, locate their prey and then swoop down for the capture with talons extended.
In Florida, ospreys commonly capture saltwater catfish, mullet, spotted trout, shad, crappie and sunfish from coastal habitats and freshwater lakes and rivers for their diet.
Ospreys build large stick nests located in the tops of large living or dead trees and on manmade structures such as utility poles, channel markers and nest platforms. Ospreys have adapted so well to artificial nest sites that the species now nests in areas (e.g. inner cities) once considered unsuitable. Nests are commonly reused for many years. Nesting begins from December (south Florida) to late February (north Florida). The incubation and nestling period extends into the summer months.
The osprey is listed as a Species of Special Concern only in Monroe County. Permits are required throughout the state to remove a nest for these wonderful raptors, however, and a replacement structure must be erected to mitigate the removal of the nest.

6/26/16
……….Sittin’ on the nest edge…………watching all the boats go by…………………….
…………………Sittin’ on the nest edge, ….laughin’ ’cause they can’t fly!!!!

“Rocky…I think that Rogaine is finally working! That bald spot is filling in!!!”