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An Intro to OspreyZone
The Story of DDT
Osprey Rescue
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Bald Eagles Visit Nest
Ospreyzone Highlights: May 21-29, 2020
OspreyZone Highlights: May 15-20, 2020 - The Intruder
OspreyZone Highlights: May 7th-14th, 2020
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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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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
George if that is him has been busy bringing material to the nest. Some big branches.
April 2. 5:20 pm Two Ospreys screeching and flying about the nest, one with fish…welcome home!
I saw furious nest building as of about 3 PM today. If it’s Gracie, she has finally returned!
Just checking in a little and apparently someone (George?) bringing in the heavy lumber. haha and a little seaweed.
At 3:51 pm osprey returned to nest with nest material.
Been watching on and off since about 3:00 pm. It’s so cool to watch them build the nest! At abut 3:36 pm one of them took one of the branches out of the nest and dropped it over the side. You could hear it hit the tower…LOL Guess they didn’t like that one!
George has added a couple of sticks…..
April 2, 2016 12:38 p.m. I’ve been watching for a couple of hours. Osprey bringing materials to build nest and now he has a fish stuck in his talons. I think it is a young osprey as he keeps losing the material before he gets in the box and now he can’t get the fish out of his talons!
Some wonderful activity this morning! George and Gracie both on the nest at the same time after 6:30 am. A lot of back and forth activity, and at least 2 other Osprey have landed on the nest. A little after 7 an apparent intruder was shooed away by one of our birds. George is bringing in some nest material, which has been fun to watch. He dropped the first stick and it fell off the platform. Then also dropped a couple of other talon bunches of seaweed. But he did manage to get several sticks and other bunches of seaweed into the nest. Mating rituals also going on, so it looks like everything is proceeding forward!! So glad all this is happening on the weekend so I can watch as long as I want to!!
11:15 ish AM- George has started rebuilding the nest! Came in with a big branch, but it slipped off the platform. He returned with a smaller one. So glad to see this progress. Gracie must have given him quite a Honey Do list!
George has started working on nestorations! I see new plant material; hope this means Gracie has returned.
11:35 EDT – Actually, I think it’s Gracie! I just saw the necklace on her breast.
11:33am. Just saw George bring in some nesting material, lower rt. side of platform!! WTG, George, get ready for Gracie!!
11:30 EDT on April 2 – looks like some nestorations have begun. Osprey (George?) just flew in with a big stick which was deposited out of sight. Other than that, there is a lonely piece of seaweed in the corner.
April 2 11:28 am……to the nest with big branch but then lost it over the side. Bummer. Go get it………
Osprey started bringing nest material to the nest. I don’t know if that is George?
April 2, 2016, at 11:12 am, there is an osprey perched on railing of platform in the rain. I am not sure if it is George. Looks as if there is some beginnings of nest material.
11:05am, 4/2/16 Awwwww…..a sad scene, George perched on nest, in the rain, waiting and waiting and still waiting….Hopefully dear Gracie will be home very soon!!!
Just checked in…its 10:55 a.m EST. Is that Gracie??????? I see two Ospreys and I check in several times a day and have only seen one,,,which I hope is George. Still have trouble telling them apart for some reason! I HOPE THAT IS THEM AND SO EXCITED THEY ARE BACK!!
Around 7:00 am Eastern Time on Saturday they started building a nest. Yeah! I am not very good at Osprey identification, are they G & G?
April 2, 2011 – 10:20 a.m. – George sitting on the platform looking around, in the rain.
Watching this morning, scrolling back two hours to the time stamp that would be starting at around 7AM, I believe we have three ospreys on our nest: George, Gracie and Fidgety Wings. You can recognize the last one by the constant flapping while perched. FW is also very vocal… like Ronnie. But I know that isn’t possible- or is it??
6;18 am PDT The comments seem to be scattered as far as the date they were written. Kind of hard to follow. Is there a way your suppose to read these ?
hi, there is is mile marker in reynolds channel in long beach that for years had a platform on it and the annual nest for the ospreys. the blizzard we had in late january wiped the platform out, but the post is still there. well, the birds are back!! is there someone i can call to install a platform, i do not have a boat….please let me know
8:00 a.m. EDT April 2nd – TWO osprey on the platform, no doubt our couple. Gracie (I think) has a fish in her talons.
Two birds on next now… one chirping madly …
7:55 am 2 osprey on the nest, 1 with a fish! Yay!!
At about 7:39 small osprey lands with a fish. About 2 minutes later larger Osprey flies in and chases smaller one off perch!
While writing my previous comment, I heard the chirping, scrolled up and there was an osprey I could see from behind, fish in claw. He waved his wings, and I saw an osprey like shape on his forehead, then he took off with the fish and an osprey replaced him on the nest and then that osprey immediately flew off, as well.
Osprey on the nest at 7:24 am this morning from Islip… gone at 7:34. His back was to me, so I did not recognize him. The wind, though, seemed mild!
4/2/16 around 6:00am George and Gracie back together George being inpatient already tried to mate but Gracie said slow down we got a nest to build and we’re is my welcoming fish. Together they are building the nest and George has been doing his mating dance as well so cute. Our family is ready to go again I’m so happy I’m staying home today to watch all day.
April 2nd…7:03 AM 2 ospreys on nest. Bonding attempted. Female apparently not ready. doesn’t look like Gracie to me. ??
6:53amEDT went to take shower and came back to find two bir ds on nest! And now I have to go to work!!!! Damn!
But that does look like Gracie……
6:15amEDT George on camera perch..calling..can here his talons tapping
6:19am and there he is..as handsome as ever
6:29am very excited and doing his display dance…scroll back and watch if you can
7:33pm Osprey on same corner of nest. blowin’ in the wind…….
YAY! THE BUNKER ARE IN BIGTIME!!!!!!!!! George is standing on one waiting for Gracie so they can build the nest!!!!!!!!
1:35pmEDT George? sitting in right corner, holding a fish but not eating (From 1ish till 1:30) Spotted a fly-by and took off……
(Added comment in wrong place)…George stopped back about 2pm with fish still uneaten.
About 1:30 PM EDT Male (I think) with fish on corner of the nest. Not calling and not eating, just fighting the wind. Stood up for lunch date?
At 1:15 pm, an osprey with fish in tallons. I am not sure if it is either Gracie or George.
12:30pmEDT Around 10:30am ish…osprey came and perched on left corner, staying till about 11, when it jumped to right corner and started posturing and flapping…saw a fly-by and then a minute or so later, heard claws land up by camera. The dampness is making the feathers clumpy, so not even guessing…..visible bird took off….
12:36pmEDT It will be so much easier when we have two birds together!
Saw that George? was back around 2pm with fish still in tow…Saving it just in case?
What a great site! Have been following since last year. I see one of them on the nest now. Very windy today. Can’t wait for the 2016 Osprey journey!
I am convinced that they are both back. I have compared photos and at one point early this morning one was on the camera and the other on the far corner of the nest.
I just saw a second Osprey in the distance with George on the nest and the nest is being rebuilt as you know. I am praying you are right.
Osprey landed around 10:40 today (April 1). Been sitting on the rails quite a while. Looks a little like Gracie, but I can’t get a good look at the necklace..
8:55amEDT George came in around 6:30am with a nice fish…did some chirping,then decided to eat it himself. Very interested in what’s going on around the nest…stayed about 2 hrs. and took off with the rest of his fish
My guess is most viewers consider themselves somewhat an environmentalist. Watching the Osprey has made us aware of the harmful effects careless human behavior( fishing line) can have on nature. Looking at them eat I’m reminded of a terrific book, “The Most Important Fish in the Sea” by H. Bruce Franklin. The book is about Menhaden aka: bunker , moss bunker, peanut bunker. While here in the Northeast, it seems our family dines mainly on this fish along with baby blues. I feel this book is a must read for anyone concerned with our Oceans. Just as Osprey were in trouble until we stopped the use of DDT. These fish will be in trouble if we don’t manage their harvesting in a more responsible way. No fish = No Osprey.
Osprey with fish….8:25 am. april 1st.
An Osprey was hanging out on the right corner of the platform this morning…
I am convinced that the Osprey on the Nest is George……waiting for Gracie.
Thank you Aiden for helping to give us this great experience. Im in the U.K so a 5hour time difference and as I watch a very vocal osprey is perching on the platform. George? Watched him yesterday and I think hes trying to set a world record for squirting.
It’s 7:28 and I think it is George on the nest.
who is on the nest. 7:21am. April 1st?
Good morning it’s Friday, April 1 around 6:45 AM and this is no joke George is at the nest with a big fish eatting on the side rail. It’s very windy again.
8:55pmEDT…on scroll back…George dropped by about 6ish and 7:30…did some chirping sweet talk calling. Maybe Gracie will blow in on the back of this endless wind. March throwing in those winds he’s famous for on his way out……..
Not sure the time I had to scroll back and once again ithere was an Osprey who brought the fish with the head off was at the nest for at least an hour and then finally decided to eat the fish same Osprey that’s been there 3 days in a row with a headless fish. I’m not sure but I’m thinking it was maybe around 2:30-3:30-ish p.m. on Thursday. That wind is something else. There are 4 other osprey nest that already have mates and I watched in Boulder 2 ospreys attempted to mate twice today with an intruder in the nest. Our nest looks so lonely can’t really call it a nest yet. Come on home Gracie were cheering for you !!
At 6PM GRACIE LANDED!!! SHE IS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6 pm Osprey with lots of speckles on its chest landed on the nest with a fish. Only stayed for a minute or two.
5:45 is that Gracie?!!!!!!! I’m trying to compare still shots from last year but the wind is blowing so hard it’s hard to get a good look at the head pattern!!!
5:45 is that Gracie?!!!!! I’m trying to compare pictures to last years and with the wind blowing so hard it’s not easy to see the head pattern!
While scrolling back on the day, there were several times that an Osprey I believe was George was perched on the nest. Around 5:53 EDT there were 2 on the nest for a short moment. Couldn’t get a good look at all of the 2nd one. Just hoping it is Gracie!!
AT approx 4pm CST spotted 2 osprey flying in and landing on edge for a few moments then flew off, one returned for a short time as well. Looked smaller but also they just flew a few thousand miles as well. Hope its our returning parents.
Hi, Aidan,
Nice to meet you. I will always post the time. However, in the past, when I rewound, I would sometimes have a tough time figuring out the time something interesting happened. Other people would do the same thing, and not all of our times were the same.
As an example, George(?) flew in with a fish at approximately 3:05 p.m. today with a mid-day snack. Hope I’m giving you the correct time.
It’s so wonderful to see that our osprey arrived safe. Now we need the mate. Thanks, Aiden, for monitoring the website.
3:25 pm Eastern Time – Saw one Osprey hanging onto left side of platform. Seemed to be calling or talking to another one. Then it took off and a second Osprey landed on right side of platform with fish. I could not tell if they were Gracie and George.
I’m sooooooo excited. Just went on to the website at 3:18 p.m. and there is one of our beautiful birds with that wonderful chirp!! Thanks, again, to Tommy and George for making this all possible!!
I just got on and was so surprised to see another Osprey on the nest. I scrolled back and compared that Osprey to the highlights from June of 2015. I don’t think this bird is either of the G’s as the black marking on its head, above the eyes, is a lot thicker when I compare them. I kinda hope I’m wrong though and hope its George.
2:16 March 31 Beautiful osprey on nest in full view. Very windy day here on Long Island
Okay, here we GO 2016 Osprey Zone folks!!! Gosh it really made my day today to see Hopefully) George perched, seemingly chirping and chirping out for Gracie!! I don’t think housekeeping will start until his mate shows up- what do you all think? Anyway, today at 1:50 pm I will “”officially”” move my laptop to the 24/7 Osprey table! We are snowbirds on Hutchinson Island, FL and see osprey dining on the perches on the Intracoastal lagoon all the time, but have never been so excited ad felt so connected to anything like this site, EVER!
Thank you, , too, Aidan, for helping Paul , Tommy & crew this season! Even though we won’t be back on LI for a month, this Zone really feels like Home…..Hugs to all of you….oh listen to the wind and the songs of our Osprey! Yippeeeee! xoxoxo
I have been watching since 11:30 and an osprey has been perched on the right side. The only view is of the back feathers, no body or face….I feel it is Gracie or George perhaps? waiting for one another? wishful thinking and what we are hoping for. I wish we could have marked the babies with paint on their talons when they were rescue from wires. Either way it would of been impossible to do that to Gracie or George. I took still pictures of them and video footage last spring/summer/fall. I am writing this at 1:35 pm eastern time, and still perched.
I hear what I think is an osprey and see tail feathers at nest at 1:27 pm March 31
THEY’RE BACK- 1 sitting on side of nest!!!
Bird on stand making some noise 1:16pm ! Make that nest already !! 🙂
12:39pmEDTAnd thank you, Aiden…adding you to list if ospreyzone heroes..
Just as an observation..from the Verizon and Flanders nest…the second osprey returning so closely to the first, as happened this year, was unusual. More often than not, they can be a week apart, or more….
Osprey on the perch today!!! Cannot tell if George or Gracie?
12:30pmEDT Osprey on nest about1 1/2 hrs. in privacy corner
It may be too windy for nestorations. It looks like the osprey is hanging on.
At 12:09 pm I see the tail feathers of osprey on right side of screen. It looks like it is very windy.
osprey on nest all you can see are tail feathers, camera needs tobe adjusted 12 noon