Attention: due to the lack of visibility on the live stream, we are currently defaulting to a playlist of old videos and highlights. You can still go to the live view by clicking the button below.
OspreyZone Live Stream
•LIVE
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
Tip: If the nest is empty, use the red scroll bar to rewind the stream up to 12 hours
Please be advised that nature can be brutal – viewer discretion is advised.
Best viewed with Google Chrome.
Ospreyzone.com copyright © 2016 – 2020 Tax Reduction Services. All rights reserved.
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
Is that an egg I see??
April 25-Approximately 8:55
And as if Gracie hasn’t been through enough already George flies in with a stick and basically dropped it right on her. As he’s trying to arrange it, he’s stepping on her and she finally just takes the stick and moves it over to the side….which is when George then noticed the egg. So cute and funny too.
April 25-Approximately 9 am or so.
Gracie may have just laid her first egg!
WE HAVE AN EGG!!! LABOR began at 8:45. and the egg seemed to come out at about 8:51!!!!! Good job Gracie!!!!!!
Yeeaahh!! Am egg-stremely egg-cited and egg-static to report that at egg-xactly 8:51 Am our egg-ceptional Gracie laid an egg. Both she and the egg appear to be in egg-cellent condition. Now, if you’ll egg-scuse me, I need to get an egg-spresso because I’m egg-hausted. Please forgive me if I over egg-spressed myself, I hope you’re not egg-sasperated with me!
1pmEDT. I’m eggsaperated to be at work with my tiny phone screen but u eggsplained it well !!
Thanks, Carol. I won’t forget when the first egg was laid, it’s also my birthday!!
Hi, Understood and agreed, something needs to change as we move forward and try to maintain timely commentary. I’ve been out of the country all winter and am back now for the spring, summer and fall. As things pick up, it’s been hard to keep up with all the comments etc. One of the problems is that we get a tremendous amount of spam that needs to be trashed, in fact more spam then real commentary. There has also been some commentary from regular users which needed to be discarded for various reasons. We are looking for another solution to moderate and have received several good ideas which will be explored. It’s hard to be “on top” of the comments everyday, all day, as we all have lives other than Ospreyzone and it does take time and effort to read the hundreds of comments that are coming in. Additionally, I would ask that this space be dedicated specifically to Ospreyzone, as I find it frustrating to have to take the time to moderate commentary concerning other cams. In the next couple of weeks we will be reviewing our plans going forward and trying to figure out how to sustain in a manageable way. There are lots of things that we would like to do with all the footage we’ve collected and would love to find an experienced editor/volunteer/intern this summer who might be interested in some projects we are planning to do with last years and this years footage. So if you know any candidates please share.
I think we all agree that this has been an amazing and valuable experience for everyone, the good, the bad and even the ugly. I especially have enjoyed bringing George and Gracie into your lives, it has been a pleasure and a privilege. What started out as just a fun little project really turned into something unexpected. We built a loving community around George and Gracie. Entertainment has always been about making people feel, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, but by design, Ospreyzone was always intended to present a window into nature, the real world, however beautiful or cruel and harsh it could be. There is no doubt in my mind that we have all gained so much from sharing George and Gracie’s world and I want to thank all of you who have really made all our efforts worthwhile.
I am familiar with those boards (SWFEC) you describe; I have to say they are really difficult to follow, especially if the number of chatters is high. I quit trying to follow the conversations as it went so fast and was difficult to match a reply to a previous comment. I like this board (an improved version would be great) and the Explore chat boards…so easy to follow.
will look into spot.im, thanks
That’s right–about 38 days or so. Quite long for a raptor that size.
SICK,SICK,SICK!!!! AN OSPREY NEST WAS SET ON FIRE IN QUEENS! IT’S IN TODAY’S NEWSDAY. HORRIBLE! HEAVEN HELP US!
It is absolutely awful. Absolutely cruel. I hope The DEC finds them!
Thanks for all that Tucker. All the films from my East End Student Film Project can be viewed at eesfp.org. My favorite as well, “Help Wanted”, a claymation project viewable on the front page. Some 60 kids ages 10 to 20 worked on it in our summer filmmaking program.
Hola Jorge y Gracie, bueno pescar mis amigos
…hahaha…THE best!!! This my fellow osprey lovers, is the life!!! Enjoy another rain soaked, but full o’ love & magic day (watching & waiting)!!! 🙂
This is nature. Do not interfere
HI There! Thank you for this beautiful cam! Myself and other chatters on other sites can’t seem to figure out how to *chat* on this site. We see that you can reply to anyone, but how do you start a new conversation please? Thank you for your help as there are many people who come to your site who would like to become part of your community in the chat area. …and maybe this will start a new conversation when I hit enter?? Kind Regards, BeckyBear
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and there is a box to post your comment/question. That will start a new conversation.
I would add that we will be implementing a new comments platform, hopefully this week, which should make for a much better experience. We would love to have a real time comment section that enabled our viewers to chat and post videos and images etc. One of the problems is that we have been getting much more spam than real comments lately and don’t want to fill up these pages with trash. So stand by, change is good, we hope.
Many thanks to you!!!
Great! I look forward to it!! Thank you kindly!! It’s a lovely nest, and seems like a neat pair of parents!! Cheers! BB
Good idea about a comments feature. Sometimes change is better.
That sounds great. Thank you so much. Looking forward to it.
What comment system did you choose?
5:40amEDT 4/25/16 Gracie has been in nest since about 4:40..George dropped in about 5:20ish, did his dance, mated and went out. First seaweed delivery 6-7 mins ago @ 5:40ish…..
The water looks like glass as the sink starts to creep in with the sun to the east…
And a double clawful of reeds and weed at 5:55..George is off to another busy day…..And currently, no comments since 5 Sat. afternoon…
Looks like it has been a beautiful day on the North Fork! I’ve had to scroll back to check on the days activities, and again it looks like lots of nest construction is still going on. Mostly George, but Gracie brought in a nice large piece of black plastic that must have been stuck to her talon, as it disappeared when she flew off. George brought her a nice size whole fish about 5:45, which she promptly flew off with. George left the nest soon after, then Gracie returned fishless about 5 minutes later. I’m assuming that she dropped it, because George showed up with more seaweed a few minutes later. But being the gentleman he is, he brought her another large fish about 7:20, which she must have successfully devoured, for it was about 50 minutes before she came back to the nest. This is encouraging that the supply of fish is good, and that George is willing to go get more so soon after delivering one earlier. Maybe Gracie was just testing him! They definitely appear to be in hurry up mode on getting the nest ready for eggs, with the more constant work on it. Hope we have their first egg soon. I’m getting anxious for that phase to begin!!
Aidan, first of all I want to say I think most of us love OZ, I know I do. I don’t mean to complain and be a pita and we don’t know how OZ’s moderating system works, but it defeats the purpose in letting other viewers know when something interesting is happening or just happened when our comments appear hours or even days later. Is there anything we can do to help speed up the process so our comments appear in a timely manner?
Hi, Understood and agreed, something needs to change as we move forward and try to maintain timely commentary. I’ve been out of the country all winter and am back now for the spring, summer and fall. As things pick up, it’s been hard to keep up with all the comments etc. One of the problems is that we get a tremendous amount of spam that needs to be trashed, in fact more spam then real commentary. There has also been some commentary from regular users which needed to be discarded for various reasons. We are looking for another solution to moderate and have received several good ideas which will be explored. It’s hard to be “on top” of the comments everyday, all day, as we all have lives other than Ospreyzone and it does take time and effort to read the hundreds of comments that are coming in. Additionally, I would ask that this space be dedicated specifically to Ospreyzone, as I find it frustrating to have to take the time to moderate commentary concerning other cams. In the next couple of weeks we will be reviewing our plans going forward and trying to figure out how to sustain in a manageable way. There are lots of things that we would like to do with all the footage we’ve collected and would love to find an experienced editor/volunteer/intern this summer who might be interested in some projects we are planning to do with last years and this years footage. So if you know any candidates please share.
I think we all agree that this has been an amazing and valuable experience for everyone, the good, the bad and even the ugly. I especially have enjoyed bringing George and Gracie into your lives, it has been a pleasure and a privilege. What started out as just a fun little project really turned into something unexpected. We built a loving community around George and Gracie. Entertainment has always been about making people feel, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, but by design, Ospreyzone was always intended to present a window into nature, the real world, however beautiful or cruel and harsh it could be. There is no doubt in my mind that we have all gained so much from sharing George and Gracie’s world and I want to thank all of you who have really made all our efforts worthwhile.
It has been amazing and valuable indeed. Whatever you feel is best is what we will do.
Aidan: Wow, I never realized (or even thought of, actually) the challenges of running a website and that the site gets hundreds of comments, including spam! And, I want to say I’m sorry – I have been guilty of commentary concerning other cams. I don’t have a ton of time, but I would love to volunteer some time to moderate comments!
I appreciate all you and everyone has done to make this a memorable site. several features make this theBEST site to follow. I have been guilty of comparing and sharing about other sites and will try to reign in those comments. THANKS TO ALL who work so hard for us…….
I second that!!! Almost commented myself this a.m.
I had to close the site down for the comments to refresh and appear. I was wondering the same thing.
Gracie brings in more plastic around 4:30 EST. What are we going to do with her, lol.
April 24- Approximately 4:25-Gracie comes in with more plastic.
Approximately 4:27-Gracie leaves with plastic caught on talon.
And while I was writing the above she returned with plastic and its no longer caught in her talon.
4:25 PM — Gracie could have parachuted in with the size of the piece of plastic she just now brought!!
@2:45pmEDT4/24/16 George brought in a fish nd no Gracie around..It’s now 3:45 and the fish is still there ..I saw Geo go up to perch and I hear him up there still. Wait..he dropped down about 3:48 and took the fish…and Now Gracie comes home….dirty stay-out lost lunch…..
Just scrolling back: Today, so far, Gracie really wanted us to see her beautiful feathers and beautiful face, so we don’t confuse her with George! We also got really close-up views to see the mechanics of osprey copulation. 🙂 George was busy, busy, busy as he brought branches (and wrestled at times with them!) and seaweed and stuff to the nest and brought fish for Gracie. At about 11 am, some kind of large insect (butterfly?, are they out yet?) fluttered around near her face; it was hysterical to watch her head bobble and beak open and close as she watched it.
I don’t know about anybody else, but I cannot find anywhere to TYPE a comment. I have looked high and low and cannot find where to comment. The only way for me to write THIS comment was to reply to you.
I just saw an egg. Others MUST have seen it too! Because of delayed posting?
Randi: All you have to do is go way down to the bottom of the page to the box under “Leave A Comment,” just type in your comment, put in the name you want shown and your email address in their respective boxes (email won’t show up in post), and hit post comment and your comment will come up free-standing. Check the boxes “Notify me of follow-up comments by email” and/or “Notify me of new posts by email” if you want (I don’t) and you’re all set.
I’ve been reading the comments from last year (I didn’t discover Osprey Zone until shortly before Ronnie and Sandy fledged). I am awestruck by the observations and insights and passion, the humor and wit. Makes me think of “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” – Edward Everett Hale
5:15amEDT 4/24/16 George came in followed a min or so later by Gracie..he did his little greeting dance for her, which I love watching…Some seaweed action and then an early morning fish at 6:10am…and she’s off…Geo did some posing for the camera and some work on the nest..we got a nice fantail shot as he worked on eggcup..ins and outs with more work..
Busy sparrow was in about 7:15 and trying to steal a great big wad of grasses..looked like he saw the landlord heading in and scarpered….
George brought in more sticks and does some rearranging,,….after she got whacked a few times, Gra took off….
April 24- George and Gracie arrive at nest moments apart. Mating and various forms of nest building continue. George is really working hard on the nest and Gracie is definitely decorating it to her liking. Good for her!!
George landed on the nest at about 5:15 AM. About a minute or two later, someone did a fly-by – you could SEE the other osprey on camera fly over the nest! Kinda reminded me of that fly-by scene in “Top Gun” when Maverick (Tom Cruise) buzzes the tower! Then Gracie hopped down off the perch. Well, while George is off to go shopping for home improvement supplies and breakfast, I’m off to go grocery shopping!
April 24- Is there any way we can get the comments section updated on a regular basis? It’s very frustrating to post information that I think might interest others and not see it posted on the date it was left. Maybe update the comments section twice daily, especially now that we are expecting eggs (well, Gracie is)
Thanks 🙂
CarolV: Visited Lake District Osprey Project site – notice says webcam is not working while they are overhauling the system. Read those posts you mentioned and also the Chesapeake post about the plastic.
I’m glad/mad we’re not the only ones with the plastic bag nightmare! Glad, in a way, that the US isn’t the only place with thoughtless and uncaring people who just let their garbage blow around and mad that the US isn’t the only place with thoughtless and uncaring people who just let their garbage blow around – that apparently it’s widespread. At least the wildlife viewed on the cams can be seen when they run into trouble and afforded the opportunity to be rescued; how many countless others are not given such luxury? I appreciated that the stories were told in a humorous way without detracting from the seriousness of the situations.
10:01pm LISA..did anyone get back to you on posting your own comments? Scroll to the very bottom of the page…LEAVE A COMMENT section. Make sure you fill in the 3 thin boxes..website is of course OSPREYZONE.COM…You probably have to fill these each time you log in and want to comment. always check…If you want e-mailed comments, check the two boxes below blue box. Hit POST COMMENT>>>Hopefully you will show up as your own post…you may nhave noticed that Betsy and I have been discussing missing posts..
If you check the notify me boxes, you should get an e-mail instructing you to SUBSCrIBE Follow those instructions and you should get comments thru e-mail as well as follow them on the LIVE FEED pages…good luck…I guess it’sthe same as when you hit REPLY under other peoples comments ‘ just starting on your own..would have been so much shorter explanation if I thought of that first!!!!!
Lisa: Sometimes they take a while to post and you’ll see “your comment is awaiting moderation” message. This last time it took about 2 days to see posts! See Gamma Carolyn’s post dated April 22, 2016 10:49 am.
Kuddos!, our CarolV the best narrator! 😉 antisipating Gracey’s day!
Lisa, Thats the way this site is. It’s not really a chat just a place to make comments that may not be seen for a few days. Sad , because it could be a great site to interact with others and maybe see things that are being missed.
Lots of nest material being brought in today by George. He started early and has been at it most of the day. Didn’t catch when he brought Gracie breakfast, but he brought her a very nice size fish for lunch around 12:35. They both have been rearranging the sticks and grass, and George has bopped Gracie in the rear several times bringing in more medium size branches. Hopefully we will have an egg in the nest soon!!
It’s Saturday 4/23/16 3:37 pm Gracie is moving some of the nesting material around. Looks like she’s making room!!
When and if Ronnie and Sandy come back to the general area of the nest, will they recognize Gracie and George? Will Gracie and George recognize them?
Leanne: There’s a great post on Chesapeake Conservancy that has some info related to this topic: “…Dr. Spitzer said it is possible that the mysterious stranger is a returned young from a previous year, since this is the current Audrey’s seventh season with us. According to Dr. Spitzer, we know very little about that possibility because there have not been enough banding studies conducted to be sure. He speculated that because Audrey has been tolerating the visitor so well, a returned offspring could be here….” https://ospreycamerablog.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/a-real-head-scratcher/
Thanks so much. I will definitely check out the link you posted. 🙂
April 23- Approximately 10:55-11:00 am. Cute footage of George in the nest trying to dig a hole.
And again at approximately 12:46
Leanne: I always wait for him to flip over, especially when it’s really windy!!
I love to watch George smoosh down the nest to make sure it is soft. He didn’t need to bring up the black plastic seed/plant container, but I think Gracie will do away with it when she comes back. Saturday, 4/23/11:00AM
Is THAT what that crunchy-sounding thing is?? I couldn’t tell what it was!!
Maybe George will find an egg carton to bring to the nest for the eggs! 🙂
6:25amEDT 4/23/16 GM Everyone…Gracie dropped in to nest around 5:45 with George flying in to the perch right after…it’s a rainy, gray day on the Island..at least temp is about 57, with promise of clearing by noon….Comments are backed up..I unsubscribed to e-mails because they just got too confusing to follow on the phone…maybe I’ll try again and see if I can figure things out to make sense………….Double clawful of grasses brought in by George about 6:10..Gracie is silent and just in waiting mode..George did some loud chirping, maybe challenge to an unseen fly-by…….off to work for me…
7:08am Breakfast is served ! Gracie clearly wanted to stay at the nest but Geo not cooperative, so she took off..while Geo surveyed his domain
I realized when I read over my post that I was a little confusing (of course, after I had already hit post comment button!), so I edited it slightly for clarification: I also found comments in the “Highlights” section itself and on each of the highlights video pages that didn’t seem to pertain to that particular video but seemed to be comments pertaining to the person’s observations of what she/he had viewed on the live feed and I found comments on the “About”, “Everything Osprey”, and “Press” pages also not relating to those various pages. So, if anyone’s comments seem to be missing, maybe they are posted on one of the other sections on this site (although I have noticed that some of my comments truly are missing, as is the person’s who I was referring to above). I would think that this is a glitch and not by design.
A suggestion for this site that jumps out at me after this is an Edit Button!
7:16pmEDT 4/23/16 Funny, I was checking something out on “get in the zone” page and saw recent posts from “Catherine and was gonna give her heads up to jon us on this page ! I’ll have to check others. I’m pretty sure my posting was on” live feed” page cause I already knew things are posted to the page we reply on. So thanks for the heads up….I’ll have to check around.
CarolV: Remember when you posted on April 19th that you noticed some of the other comments you had made hadn’t shown up and you were chalking it up to your “techlessness”? And I responded, half-jokingly and half-seriously, that the site eats them? Well, tonight I decided to view comments starting on the first page (I see a lot of people are return viewers, BTW!). Lo and behold, I found a at the bottom of that page a post of yours from April 20, 2016 regarding your missing posts (CarolV April 20, 2016 at 7:40 pm – Reply 7:34pm…just wanted to add…of my missing posts, I had said thank you to all who filled me in about the egg-event at ChesCon…I,. sadly, am still Facebook resistant…drives my sisters nuts….I did watch ChesCon site last year but didn’t start till the kids were almost fledged and ET was moving in her luggage….It was a wonderful story and the acceptance of the boarder just made it better….)
And I found one of mine from April 19, 2016 in reply to someone who all I remember of went by 4 initials in caps and had commented that he/she differentiated George and Gracie by their eye stripes.
I also found comments in the “Highlights” section on each of the highlights video pages that didn’t seem to pertain to that particular video but seemed to be comments pertaining to the person’s observations of what she/he had viewed on the live feed, and I found comments re same as above on the “About”, Everything Osprey”, and “Press” pages. So, if your comments seem to be missing, maybe they are posted on one of the other sections on this site (although I have noticed that some of my comments truly are missing). I would think that this is a glitch and not by design.
So, Aidan, if you are the tech guy and if you are reading this, can this be fixed?
7:15pmEDT 4/22/16 Glad to see George the Wonderful showed up with dinner about 6:55..hope Gra holds on to it!!!! She has eggs to grow…..
5:37pmEDT 4/22/16 @5:36pm George brought in a whole fish for a very hungry Gracie…of course, she took off…
%5:50pm…Busy sparrow is on branch by plastic…”Honey, it’s the neighbors curtains flapping outside our nest…”
6:24pm I wonder if Gracie lost her fish..she wasn’t out long and no fish when she returned…she usually doesn’t eat that fast!! Now she’s chirping…..
I think Gracie is getting ready to lay her eggs…
Just got back from doing errands all morning. Don’t see any comments posted since yesterday afternoon. Scrolled back 4 hours (to what would be about 10:15 AM) to catch up – the nest looks like a whirlwind went through it!!
22 Apr 2016, 12:46 pm: It doesn’t look like anything is going on with the nest. Lots of trash, but that is all.
12:19pmEDT 4/22/16 About 12:10 or so..poor exhausted Geo was taking a bird-nap, when Gra decided she wasn’t happywith that plastic…she was tugging at it then” grumbling’ at it till his eyes popped open..she looked at him as if he should do something..when he went back to napping, she waddled over in front of him to get his attention…got him moving, all right..OUT
CarolV: The huge strip of plastic on the left side that’s draped over and under branches? It must really really be annoying her — she was back on the nest about 8:15 PM tonight when it was nearly dark yanking with all her might on it!
Please put me on your email list. Tx.
9:56amEDT 4/22/16 Nestorations continue…@9:45 George demonstates some of the interesting shapes scrubpine branches come in…about 9:50..Gracie felt the need to get her own addition..guess what? I would love to be below when that osprey flies over with a banner streaming behind her!!!
April 22- Around 9:50- More plastic, compliments of our Gracie.
May I also say….I Never see my comments here. Get a million emails of others though. 🙂
Lucie: See my discovery above (April 22, 2016 at 11:35 pm). It seems like comments somehow get scattered all over the website at times.
8:04amEDT George is making lots of trips with new furnishings..reeds, seaweed, small sticks..and did the chest waddle move to work on “egg cup”..no breakfast that I’ve seen but Gracie isn’t complaining….
8:15am ish George was rearranging while Gracie looks on as if inspecting…she chirps quietly and he takes off..breakfast run???
nope…more nesting…HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!!!! and egg-watch 2016 begins………..tick tock tick tock
OK, guys, we have to get up earlier than we thought! I am an EARLY BIRD, and I love scrolling back to watch the sun rising over the water. I scrolled way back – apparently, at about 3 AM, Gracie DECIDED TO CHECK the nest. She stayed for about 6 minutes until she MADE SURE it was secure. George landed on nest a few minutes before 5:30 AM, staying for a couple of minutes, shaking his wings at someone overhead, TELLING it don’t come ’round here no more, no more, then George flew off and circled around to land on the perch – maybe to rest ?, KNOWING he had a hard days’ work ahead of him. Gracie landed on nest after George came back to perch, and WISHED she had made up a shopping list for George. George then was in and out, in and out, working hard. The sun coming up made the clouds a beautiful peachy-pink and the water was a gorgeous silvery-gray.
6:45amEDT 4/22/2016 Looked like George stopped in about 5:30 and did a greeting dance , watched a boat going out,then took off… Gracie dropped from perch, did a lap, then came in to nest. A little before 6, Geo came back to rearrange furniture…they had a quickie, watched the sunrise together and he went off to work…beautiful sunrise btw….
Just at 7ish..the scene is almost black & white as the sunshine disappears and took color with it…..
7:05am Seaweed delivery from the workingman…
9:02pmEDT On the Ches Con site, there is an interesting blog..the latest post for April 21 tells, with pictures, about the female having a bag wrapped around her leg..ends well…
8::17pm 4/21/16 Another beautiful moonrise..I have more time at home to see the nest at night than ospreywatch!!! So this camera angle serves double duty!! Thought it was going to be overcast, so I’m happy we get to see the light of the full moon!
BETSY..thanks for heads up on CCcam Audrey….You might enjoy the site for the Lake District Osprey Project GB,,I thought I had posted it but I don’t see it..The camera was down when I checked it, but there were a lot of interesting posts, especially ” Two Eggs Don’t Genoa” and “Third Egg”
A lot of nest touching up going on today. George has brought in a variety of medium sticks and seaweed, and doing a good job of getting the space ready for eggs. About 11 a.m. George brought a HUGE headless fish to Gracie. I can only imagine how large that thing was before George devoured some of it! Gracie took it and flew off to eat her portion, then brought a small bit back to the nest and actually shared it with George. Didn’t see any of the “intruder” drama today, but sure hoping that he finds a new area to hang out in.
Gamma Carolyn: Are you still NOT receiving emails from OZ? Try http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/not-receiving-email for some troubleshooting steps that I think maybe would work in general.
How do I leave my own comment? Sorry to bother you but I don’t have any ideas how to write without replying to somebody Thanks
Lisa: All you have to do is go down to the bottom of the page to the box under “Leave A Comment,” type in what you want, put in the name you want to shown (I guess Lisa 🙂 ) and email address, and hit post comment and your comment will come up free-standing. Check the boxes “Notify me of follow-up comments by email” and/or “Notify me of new posts by email” if you want (I don’t) and you’re all set. Welcome to Osprey Zone!
No I do not receive any e-mails from this site. I don’t run Windows, I have a Mac, same as I did last year and had no problems then. This site really doesn’t seem to have a real moderator . I’m not going to worry about it. Seems like what ever gets posted can take at times up to 2 days to show up. I think it may depend on the time of day or day of the week. I can still watch and comment to myself. It’s probably safer that way. I can’t get mad at myself :)))
Gamma Carolyn: Oh, don’t know then. Maybe, one day you’ll start getting them because computers seem to do their own thing!!
Ugh, plastic.COME ON, GRACIE- WHERE ARE THOSE EGGS?
I don’t mean to be mean but everyone needs to remember that osprey are not brain surgeons (actually I’ve met some brain surgeons who weren’t that bright, either).We have a pair down here in Florida who keep insisting on building their nest on the traffic light on the drawbridge. It keeps getting torn down and they keep re-building it even though they have so many good places to build one of their messy nests which always seem to include things that are dangerous to them. Please believe me when I say I love all these birds but I cannot and will not anthropomorphize them to to the point that I consider them any more than birdbrains because that is what they are. We (humans) are a little beyond them I think but not too much, especially in terms of getting along.
Bob: We all know ospreys are not feathered human beings. I believe that when people watch animal cams, they can develop a better understanding of animals and a better awareness of our relationship to them and the environment. And, if ascribing one iota of human characteristics to the animals helps people to create a bond with and to appreciate animals, well, all the better. Because, after all, it’s humans who are destroying wildlife and the planet, which will ultimately lead to the destruction of humankind. Heck, reputable preservation and conservation web cam sites give human names to animals – isn’t that a form of anthropomorphism? And, in fact, Audubon had a review of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, by Carl Safina, Henry Holt and Company (https://www.audubon.org/news/carl-safina-makes-case-anthropomorphism).
Personally, I love reading people’s comments and observations.And I find the links people add interesting and informative.
I agree!! lol 🙂
Oh, for Pete’s sake!!!!! Just opened OZ and saw Gracie standing in nest next to this huge piece of plastic. Scrolled back about 3 hours … can’t believe my eyes! Gracie must have found that HUGE sheet of plastic that was stuck on her talon when she flew out of the nest yesterday afternoon!! (“Yeeeaaahh, the plastic that I dropped yesterday! I thought I’d lost it forever!”)
Regarding the ribbon…
I tried to post a link to the plight of a local osprey who was caught in that same type of balloon ribbon and had to be rescued. Last year we tried to start an awareness campaign on the dangers of fishing line and balloons and other debris left on beaches and tossed in the water.
I am personally still working on it.
Try to tell people not to send off balloons into the sky- they have to land somewhere and a sea creature usually finds it- suffering terribly because of it.
I don’t know why my post was removed, the photo showed an osprey tangled in the ribbon- but she was rescued and is safe and back on her nest. Thankfully, this one had a happy ending.
GinaM: Comments seemed to a while to post today, so I’m just seeing your comment now. I agree with you 1000% about balloons being released. It’s really a shame that people don’t seem to know, or care, about the dangers posed to wildlife when balloons are released. I googled what you said about a local bird and this is what I got (I hope this is what you were trying to link and that you don’t mind that I took the liberty of posting link): http://patch.com/new-york/huntington/firefighters-rescue-baby-osprey-lloyd-harbor-0
how long between mating and egg laying? When should we expect eggs?
April 21. At the rate that those little birds are robbing the nest George and Gracie might return to nothing but sticks. Not comfy for Gracie and eggs. 🙂
The little sparrows are just adorable to watch, taking little twigs and grasses! Why go out shopping, when you can just use your neighbors’ stuff?
Exactly. I think they’re pretty smart and so funny to watch, especially when they go in behind Gracie or George’s back. 🙂
Leanne: I wonder how they know not to fear George and Gracie?! When there has been the occasional hawk flying around where I live, the birds all hide and are silent!
I’m seeing only George and Gracie (and sparrows) on nest. Went back to about that time (from before Gracie flew off with ribbon and for the next 1/2 hour until drama scene), saw George in nest messing with his seaweed, Gracie returned with her fish, then George hollering up at someone who must have followed Gracie home, then George and Gracie tussling over fish (George won), George taking off with fish and then returning with fish, then Gracie flying away with ribbon and George in and out, continuing with his “nestorations.” Gracie came back to supervise George, but he wanted to fool around, and she said “NOT NOW, GEORGE, YOU HAVE TO FINISH THE NURSERY!! … OMG, GEORGE, SOMEONE’S COMING” Then, it looked like an intruder came near the nest and both George and Gracie worked to fend him off, with George flying off after him (and Gracie screaming at the intruder, “DON’T EVER COME BACK, MISTER!” The End.
PS: Before the nest drama, Gracie flew out of the nest with ribbon wrapped around both talons, came back after about 20 minutes – no ribbon. Human someone: find that ribbon and hide it deep, deep, deep in the bottom of the trash!!
At just before 11 am George brought in the headless fish. Gracie hooked it and flew off. George began to repair nest, then lay down on his chest and used his claws to push material away from the center of the nest, deepening the egg pocket.
A lot of nest work going on already this morning. A little before 6:30 6:30 George brought Gracie a nice hunk of fish, which she flew away with to eat. She returned a bit later with some of the fish, and shared it with George. So sweet. They are definitely busy getting the nest ready for eggs. so interesting how George knows what to bring to fill in the gaps!
The nest looks so good- George was working very hard pushing all the sticks towards the edge of the nest @11:20 am
8:48 am, the “robbers “are back, helping themselves to the small stuff..too funny to watch them quickly hop in and out !!
At about 6:30 AM, when Gracie went to fly away with the fish George had brought her, her talon got snagged on that #$@&%*! ribbon. OK, so, if surgeons can perform remote robotic surgery, why can’t a robotic system be invented to attach along with the video cameras to remove hazardous things from nests??!!
MATING ALERT!! approx. 7:40 am 4/21, there was a serious mating session. I though they were done with this activity. Maybe this one was the real deal and eggs are on the way.
around 7:30 AM intruder came on nest..He tried to mate with Gracie and Gracie started to attack him. Went off nest but came back to perch and she went after him again..both took off
7:33amEDT I see that about 7ish Gracie took off with the lovely ribbon stuck onn her foot…so much for decor..glad to see it go..it was long and dangerous……about 7:20-7:25..I thought it was George who brought in a scraggly root and was arranging it , when Gra arrived, looked around, then attacked the other bird…..both flew out but within minutes two birds were back in the nest..anyone else seethat?
She gave him an earful,too !! “I TOLD you…more seaweed, less SCRATCHY stuff !!!!!!!! “
And Busy the sparrow is in and out in and out
8:09am no wonder they build under those osprey nests! Saves those tiny sparrow wings gathering someone else’s nesting….
I saw that too and I do think it was George she was fighting with. Not sure what prompted it as they had been sitting in nest for a short time before they fought. I would have thought that had it been another male she would have attacked it right when she landed but she didnt. Markings looked like George too. Lovers spat I guess.
April 21- Between 7 and 7:30 Gracie flew off with ribbon on her foot/talon but came back minutes later and it was gone.
Gracie first around 5:15 then George right after. It is getting earlier and earlier..George brought headless fish around 6:30. if u go back couple of minutes before you can see George fly underneath nest with whole fish.
6:26amEDT 4/21/16 GM all…Gracie’s yelling for breakfast..George has been on a seaweed binge, in and out a couple of times…maybe he’s warming up before a nice cold plunge in the bay….
6:61amEDT Breakfast arrives..good sized headless fish…Gracie is off, tripping on that lovely ribbon..balloon leftover? We taked about the dangers of balloons last year, but more in the line of the latex remains,,barely thought about the ribbons…
5:30am here in Greenport. I just saw something very weird. Has nothing to do with G & G. I have some opsrey’s that circle my house ever afternoon. Well, I was just outside and it appeared that one got caught in a wind tunnel of some sort. He just kept going higher and higher and was screaming. He just kinda floated with the one and only cloud outside at the moment. Very scary. Hope he is ok. Was wondering if that is possible and if anyone else has seen anything like that. Thanks in advance!
I visit the Washington, DC Bald Eagle Nest Cam and the Raptor Resource Project Decorah Bald Eagles Cam, among others (BTW, CarolV, Ms. Audrey Chesapeake Conservancy Osprey laid her second egg yesterday 4/20/2016). But tonight I decided to really check out these bald eagle sites in depth. The Raptor Resource Project Blog is so chock-a-block full of fascinating info! (I think I had a cuppa cawfee too late tonight … can’t sleep!!)
Tora: I was scrolling back through the comments when your post from a week ago about Iris from the Hellgate nest caught my eye. (Not a site I’m familiar with; guess I’ll have add it to my list of sites to visit!) Went to their Facebook page and saw that Stanley, her mate, “has always returned a couple of weeks after Iris”. Saw Hellgate Osprey @HellgateOsprey tweeted: “When does Stanley usually arrive? A: Arrival dates: 2012-May 6th, 2013-May 3rd, 2014-April 27th, and 2015- April 21st.” Please keep us updated.
Around 8 PM tonight something beautiful happened between George and Gracie..They where sitting at nest edge when they looked at each other and George went over and kissed Gracie’s beak …Rejonal was watching site the moment it happened..priceless pictures…Thank you Rejonal
Rjoneal…. Sorry for mis-spell
Got email from Ranay, also. Almost missed it by the time I discovered email and scrolled back. Most romantic, especially with (CarolV’s) moonshine backdrop! Should most definitely go in highlights!
Wow! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Oops, make the Gracie plastic time about 6:15-ish PM. George came back nest alone about 1/2 hour later. Then Gracie came back to nest with George about 7:50-ish to see the moonrise that CarolV was talking about! 🙂
Feather liner is all the seaweed softness they bring…
At about 5:45 PM, it was Gracie’s turn to fly out of the nest with plastic stuck on her talon and back a couple of minutes later with … I’ll give you all one guess! Then, she’s off again a couple of minutes later, apparently for the night, with, yes, it’s true, THE PLASTIC!! I hope I don’t still see it when she returns in the AM.
BTW, the teal ribbon is still in the nest.
7:34pm…just wanted to add…of my missing posts, I had said thank you to all who filled me in about the egg-event at ChesCon…I,. sadly, am still Facebook resistant…drives my sisters nuts….I did watch ChesCon site last year but didn’t start till the kids were almost fledged and ET was moving in her luggage….It was a wonderful story and the acceptance of the boarder just made it better….