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osprey 07/11/15 squirt
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George and Gracie's First Baby
Eggs Over Easy
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Upgrading
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First Love
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Hard to Get
Little Brother
Intruder
Dinner is Served
OspreyZone Montage
OspreyZone Highlights: George Returns
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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
4:54pmEDT 5/20 The wind is picking up again..coming from a different direction than usual..the plastic banner hanging from the perch has whipped across the view a few times…
2:35pmEDT 5/20 Lots of boating traffic today..It’s a beautiful day and people are out enjoying it…the weekend isn’t looking too great..warmish but not sunny..possible rain Sat., depending where you live,,app is showing rain for South Fork, not North Fork..Sun, and Mon. showing rain all over. Possibly Tues. also………Bah !!!!!!
2:51pm George brought a nice sized headless fish for Gracie…looked like a piece of plastic went out with her..hope it doesn’t make her lose the fish…..I starting to was to check out the site Kathleen mentioned when I heard the definite chorus from Gra meaning “FOOD”. Thanks for suggesting it!
I just realized with the super new digital clock that I can compare the video feeds on my two computers..I made sure both videos were up to the second…there is a 7 sec. difference between the two feeds..I have to remember to mute one, or else there is a confusing conversation happening….
Forget conversations … try having 2 or more windows open and George starts his minutes-long alarming or Gracie her calling to George or her increasingly frantic begging and all out of sync … talk about cacophony!!!
At 10:41 am, Gracie stood up to stretch her wings and decided, after almost 17 hours of it being there, that the “antler” wasn’t in a good place … so, she struggled, half dragging and half carrying it right over the eggs (I was cringing, thinking she was going to spike right through an egg!!), to move it, first to the right back corner of the nest before deciding “no, not here … hmm, let me think about this …” and then stumbling (and video jumping!!) all around the nest with it for almost 4 minutes, only to end up putting it practically just to the left of where she had moved it from!! Her next project was to tackle the plastic, dragging it from where she had moved it at 8:41 am, which was more toward the “plastic area” – toward the right back of the nest – to the right front and then toward the back left of the nest, only to end up with the length of it lying in the egg bowl! … at least, when she dragged it over the eggs, I didn’t have to cringe!! When she was done moving the plastic, she stood in front of the camera to show us that although she might be a birdbrain, she’s a beautiful birdbrain!! Then, she made her way to the eggs to sit …
When George brought a clump of dried grasses and things back to the nest at 7:09 pm and then started to break up the clump to put chunks of it here and there and moving sticks already in the nest around, I thought, “Oh, Lordy, don’t him move The Branch”!! (He didn’t!! 😀 )
Around 10:41 a.m., Gracie did some major nestorations. She moved that big branch on the left side of the nest more toward the end of the nest. She did a great job in blocking that ball of tangled fishing line. So glad that’s out of the way. Thanks, Paul, for adding the time to the video. Makes it so much easier when scrolling back.
There was some rather clumsy stick rearranging at approximately 10:40 AM where the stick landed on the eggs, the eggs were stepped on and eventually it was put where the fishing line is tangled…. I hope the eggs are unharmed.
about 10:40am..Gracie decided to do nestorations…she moved that big pine branch all around the nest..it was like a tent over the eggs once or twice; left side, camera side,right side…winding up balanced on the Snarl’s stick..Gracie got herself caught in the pine’s branches a couple of times…Then, she turned her attention to some plastic and other, smaller, sticks…she was all over that nest rearranging….akin to the pregnancy “nesting” phase?
I went to the link that Kathleen posted … all I can say is “Wow” … and be sure to click on the link that’s in the article about the book, so you can sob your way through the video, but in a good way!
Thanks Kathleen!
I got a late start this morning and, so, apparently did George … I saw black plastic sheeting on the left side of the egg bowl and I was trying to figure out how or when it got there. On scroll back to between 5:15 am and 5:30 am, the time George usually arrives, I didn’t see George bring in any plastic; in fact, I didn’t even see George until I scrolled back up and saw him fly in with a headless fish at 6 am (which he fed to Gracie for 10 minutes, until she got up off the eggs, took the fish from him and flew off) … so I scrolled back, way back, and just before it changed to blue hour at 4:31 am, in the mottled purples, blues, greens, and reds of the video, I could see Gracie, pulling up the plastic and moving the corner of it over! With the rain predicted for tomorrow, she must be getting rain gear ready!! 😀
George brought dinner to Gracie last evening at 6:24 pm… but after feeding her maybe a dozen bites (and “throwing” food at her) then standing in front of her while eating it himself as she was begging, George flew off … Gracie picked up a piece he had dropped, then flew off in the direction that George had flown … I think she was flying after him to say “Are you kidding … You call this dinner??!!” A few minutes later, George flew back … Gracie wasn’t taking any chances – she grabbed the fish from him and off she went. A video is worth a thousand words:
https://youtu.be/JleG7l_uf-c
May 20- 6:23 pm- Love the video today. My favorite part though is when George stares at the camera. Sometimes I think he even strikes a pose. 🙂
May 21- 3:35 pm- I watched this video a day ago and thought I had commented but I either imagined that I did or it wasn’t posted. Either way, I enjoyed your video. My favorite part is when George stares at the camera. He looks as though he can see us!! 🙂
May 21, 3:38- I see my previous comment now. It’s still waiting for moderation. 🙂
May 20- Approximately 6:20 am- Intruder flies by.
May 20- Approximately 5:30 am- George flies in with a fish but Gracie seems uninterested in it. Shortly after George flies back in either with same fish or a newer one and he feeds Gracie breakfast. 🙂
Are there any reindeer on the North Fork missing an antler??!! 😀 I think George outdid himself in the branch department – at 6 pm, he brought a big multi-twigged branch to the nest … and just before he flew in, I heard clanging then clunk clunk … sounded as if it was coming from the camera housing! … After George landed with the rack, he grappled with it for a good 4 minutes to try to position it, first at the left front of the nest before finally wrangling it into place more toward the center front of the nest … a couple of times, I thought he and the branch were going to go toppling over the edge!! … And almost the whole time he was hitting Gracie, lying on the eggs, on her head and in her face with his tail feathers!!
9:15pm…Not quite a full moon, but quite beautiful as from 8:30 ish, it left an everchanging pathway across the water towards the nest as it rose.
I should watch my sentence structure….that looks like the nest is rising…..
CarolV: That might not be a bad idea!! We can add that to the nest package … to help the chicks when they start wingersizing!! 😀
Aidan,Paul and everyone else who is moderating the website,I want to thank you for allowing my video on fish kill and allowing all the other videos from others to be on your website for everyone to see. Last year we were unable to do this or it just was not allowed and I want to thank you for taking the time and approving the videos to be seen this year. I have seen so many improvements since last year. I love our Osprey Zone! ps Paul last year you were on that video wearing the Osprey Zone Hat and thats when everyone wanted to buy one just like yours and thats how the osprey zone store started. Now what will do this year?? Maybe you should do a video update ??? Hint Hint
I second that!! 😀
5-19-16 hello everyone it is the end of the day just wanted to say I really enjoyed Geos huge stick and how powerful he was trying to adjust that thing. He was shoving with his chest and body it was entertaining to watch. Also once again Gracie got her cuddle time with Geo when he feed her again tonight. Then flash out of nowhere Gracie sounds alarm and pow Geos in nest fighting off intruder whom probably is same guy that just wont leave them alone. Got pics of intruder flying off but still not sure if its our same guy. Geo was guarding his woman,nest and eggs. He did real good. We are proud of George!!
I love how George is feeding Gracie this year. So tender. They don’t see each other during their winter “vacations” so you can see a that a real bond is formed when they are together again.
6:51pmEDT 5/19..came home to loud protest chirps..I had shut the computer lid without exiting program…checking in, George is on nest, looking skyward..I think Gracie came in to the perch and a second chorus of chirps began..George was standing and really protesting…Talk about Angry Bird !!!!! When things settled down, Gracie floated down from the perch, and George took off. He was back within minutes with reeds and small sticks. I see there have been some additions to the nest..large pine branch on far side an obvious addition… will have to do my nightly catch-up after all my animals are fed…
7:35pm Entering l’heure rose…..everything starting to have a ink cast..pretty time of day…
4:09pm Gracie is being annoyed by something..keeps shaking her head and rubbing it against herself…could it be that loose feather by her eye fluttering just in her peripheral vision?
5:59pm George brought in that big scrubpine branch..or it brought him: he wound up perched on top of it….he futzed around with it for a good while, trying to position it over the snarl…which would have been good…Gracie got tailfeathered repeatedly during thid process..she started watching something off to the right and it caught George’s attention, too, as he lost interest in furniture placement…off he went..
George is back @6:24 with a headless fish..Gracie is asking him to feed her..he gives her a few bites, then e alarms to something and takes off…Gracie stood up to check for some pieces George had dropped and @6:29 she finds a piece long enough to make her think she had to take it elsewhere..eggs keeping each other company…Mom’s back @6:33..
6:38..George is back with the 1/2 fish..Gracie not taking any chances as she grabs the fish and runs..flies..George fidgets and naps til we’re back where I came in @6:51 and the ruckus..
That was PINK cast…oh, what a difference one letter can make!!!
Gotta love these two! George flew into the nest around 6 pm with a small tree, just kidding, but it was a good size branch with several other branches on it. He couldn’t get it quite situated where he wanted it. At one point it looked like he was building a radio tower, and he finally got it moved over a bit then just flew off. If we could only put captions with some of the shots of them, I think Gracie would have been saying “are you just gonna leave it there: Really??” She turned toward it after he flew off and just sort of stared at it. Too funny. The one good thing is that is sort of helps block off that big ball of fishing line that is still stuck on a branch.
May 19 about 6 p.m. (EST) about 15 min. ago George began to rearrange a large branch (think it was in the nest-did not see him bring it in) he was trying to cover over the branch with the fishing line on it with that other branch. Obviously he has become aware of the dangerous situation that that fishing line is. Amazing how he would know that. He worked very hard and it looked at one point that he had accomplished his mission but the branch just would not stay where he wanted it to be. My video stream is out right now so I will check later to see how successful he was. Hopefully he will not give up until he does get that branch on top of the one with the fishing line so it prevents any of them G,G, and babies from landing on that perch with the line on it.
7:48amEDT Looks like George took exception to the horseshoe crab shell that has been laying in the righthand corner…moved it or dumped overboard..couldn’t tell..funny how certain objects grab their attention and must GO !!!
May 19- 7:53 am- Forecast for today: Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 64F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. 🙂
10:29pm 5/18 Betsy..I had a similar scare when I saw a pile that looked like 2 ayeses( have to check my spelling on that) sleeping in the corner..till finally movement from beneath showed the 3rd chick..at least our chicks are usually distinctive as units, even tho we can’t all tell them apart!!!!
Sounds like I missed a busy day…..Good to catch up with all the comments…but bed time now or I’ll be up chatting with our friend, the night owl !!
Correction..eyasses
It would appear that at 1:38 this afternoon, he/she felt threatened by a predator.
Jo-Ann and everyone else here is what Jo-Ann is talking about Alert Fish Kill
https://youtu.be/agQaqeptXfQ
May 18-8:05 pm- Thanks for sharing the video. Very informative.
Thank you, Rjoneal.
More links:
http://riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com/2016/05/73606/underwater-video-points-to-peconic-fish-kill-on-the-horizon/
http://www.onthewater.com/multi-agency-study-finds-sources-fish-kills-peconic-river/
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/bmrpeconicfishkill.pdf
http://riverheadlocal.com/2016/02/05/last-summers-massive-fish-kill-was-caused-by-algal-blooms-too-much-nitrogen-study-confirms/
http://southoldlocal.com/2016/05/18/despite-millions-bunker-fish-peconic-estuary-riverhead-hopes-furious-fishing-effort-will-prevent-another-massive-kill/
I HAVE MENTIONED THIS BOOK BEFORE THE MOST IMPORTANT FISH IN THE SEA AND AMERICA MENHADEN- AKA BUNKER BY FRANKLIN. PLEASE READ IT. THEY REQUIRE MORE OXYGEN, THEY ARE ALSO FILTER FEEDERS LIKE SHELLFISH THEY HELP TO CLEAN THE WATER. WE NEED TO SAVE OUR OCEANS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. WE CAN DO THIS. I SAID IT BEFORE NO FISH NO OSPREY.
Thank you, Rjoneal for the Video …and Betsy for links
I love Gracies “zebra” feathers on her tail. What great information we are getting this year. Thanks to all.
At almost 5:21 am, George brought a headless fish for Gracie and away she went … and again, at 7:05 am, George brought her a headless fish to fly away with … hey, Leanne, get ready to make another video titled “Gracie Rolling Herself to Center of Nest” !! 😉
(For the latecomers, that’s a reference to the video Leanne made [see comments page 29] of Gracie rolling the third egg into the egg bowl after George, in all his excitement at being a daddy of 3 😀 , pushed Gracie right out of the way as she was laying the third egg and it didn’t quite end up with the other eggs. 😉 )
May 18-7:53 pm- Let’s hope its a possibility for a video of that. I watched the weather for this upcoming week- starting Monday- and the forecast isnt good. She may need that extra weight because George may not be able to fish for her.
Think positive!! — Sometimes the weather can be bad but the fishing can be good!!
Hello Group
This is my fourth attempt at a Post
At the Rutland Osprey Project across the Pond in the U.K. They had their own Blessed Event which maybe a precursor to our own Event.
Mom Maya and Dad 33 (Yeah his Name) welcomed the arrival of Three Chicks. What makes this unusual, is that all three chicks were born from my accounts within 24 hours of one another.
What I find interesting and I’ve only been following Ospreys since last year is the time frame parameters concerning the timing of each hatching. My question is for the group. Is this scenario unusual or out of the norm for All Three Eggs to hatch all within a space of 24 hours or less. I always thought that there would be days between hatchings.
I first thought weather could have been a factor. But as we all know the weather in England is more rainy, more windy and colder than here on Long Island. The Mother seems about the same size as Gracie. And the Father keeps her well fed and he does spell her enough with taking his turn at keeping the Eggs Warm thus giving Maya a chance to flap her wings. And with all this said ( Sorry for being long Winded ) can any of the group with more knowledge then I explain to me if this is normal amongst Ospreys
And if anyone is interested in watching video of the Births and how utterly fascinating it is to watch Momma Maya assist in with all of the births it’s simply a Beautiful sight to Behold
You can go to Ospreys.org.uk. And click on Osprey Team Latest and click on the video, which there are several and also read the Narration that goes along
Enjoy
Mike
Breakfast was at 5:20 this morning.
6:17am taking a tour thru other sites makes me appreciate our set-up even more..Hellgate osprey female laid FIVE eggs, but one was broken and another was stolen by a raven..no ravens here…….CC peregrine chicks wobbling like weebles while they wingercize,,too cute!!!always amazed by the lack of “amenities” in that nest.!!! DC eaglets getting air in their morning exercise and looking scarier than their parents in their all black outfits..
I like to check-in at the Lake District(GB) Project just to read their commentaries..nice one recently called Spring Survival…
WEATHER..mostly sunny and in the 60s with a warming trend the next few days before rain on the weekend. Dare we say it aloud? (whispering) Spring is here……
CarolV: After reading your post, I hopped over to CC falcon webcam … I saw only 2 babies, one on the right side of that dividing wall, standing and preening itself, and one on the left side of the wall, just lying there not moving, with its right leg stretched out behind it and no sight of the third baby … I almost had a heart attack!! … Finally after watching for over 15 minutes, I saw just the edge of a tail moving at the bottom-most view of the camera … okay, so I knew that there were still 3 … I watched for a few more minutes and then the one on the left moved its leg. I could breathe again!! … They really need a scroll bar over there!!
Carol – A blog that has absolutely made a place in my heart is the Dyfi Osprey Project, written by Emyr Evans. He’s got an amazing gift for writing, and his explanations about all things osprey have a passionate, romantic yet humble and scientifically logical approach. His blogs touch a lot of issues that trouble us, like inequitable chick feeding, inbreeding, and why things happen the way they do in the wild. He’s even written a book about his project, which details the re-introduction of ospreys into Wales after hundreds of years’ absence. The Welsh Osprey story is a tear-jerker. Lots of triumph, trajedy and happy endings. Well worth the read!
http://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/blog/emyr-evans/2014/11/23/new-book-ospreys-wales-%E2%80%93-first-ten-years
5:22amEDT 5/18 George shows up with breakfast, medium headless fish…Gracie had a taste, approved and went off with it.George settles on the eggs in the pretty pink sunrise
5:39 George starts the alarm calls. and a minute later, Gracie comes in to back him up. They switch and George goes out
I want that beautiful feather laying there in the middle of the nest!
OK How long has that clock been in the lower right hand corner? How long have I been blind?
NOW I see what Betsy meant in her 10:49 comment yesterday……the light dawns …in my head….very handy…thanks for the addition !!!!!!!!! and George came in @5:20 this a.m.
It sure does make it a heck of a lot easier!! Now, instead of seeing Gracie move the dried grass stuff around and then step up on the rim of the egg bowl to put some of it there – which made her look like a giant – and lift up a twig before sliding back down the slope of the egg bowl and then figuring out “OK, if this was about 2 hours 39 minutes ago and it’s now 12:30 pm … so, let’s see, that would be …math, math, math … that would have been at around 9:51 am.” Now, all we have to do is just READ the time … For those who didn’t notice, the time was added to the bottom frame of the video stream yesterday!!
May 18- 5:35 am. Approximately 15 mins ago George delivers breakfast to Gracie who leaves nest but leaves a feather behind. George assumes position on eggs. 🙂
Fillets and Melees
Today was a day for everyone – it had action and romance!
It started bright and early, well maybe not bright, but early, when George brought Gracie a partial fish at 5:18 am. Almost as soon as George settled himself on the eggs after she left he started alarming and went into defense mode and a couple of minutes later there was a fly-by from out over the water directly over the nest. The next few hours were garden-variety with Gracie and George taking turns on the eggs and George bringing his usual assortment of grass and twigs and the intermittent alarming by either one or the other or in harmony. And Gracie was well fed today – George brought her the last little remaining end of a fish at 9:27 am, which at first she stayed at the nest to take a few bites of before flying off with it … I think she was probably deciding if it was worth the trouble to fly off with it to eat, it was that small, or to just stay … and within 5 minutes she was back. But George more than made up for that when he brought her a good-size whole flipping flopping flapping fish at 10:43 am and she made up for the short break she had taken earlier, this time taking a 45-minute break. She took another snack break at 12:23 pm when George brought her another small tail-end of a fish. Now here’s where the action part is – At 12:34 pm, George started alarming at someone circling overhead and Gracie raced back a couple of minutes later, first looping out over the water to assess the situation, before coming in to land on the perch to join him in the racket. An osprey could be seen circling around a couple of times, flying low in front of the nest and out over the water. Then, as an osprey was flying down to land on the right far-most groin, George stood up over the eggs and Gracie flew (and not just literally!) off the perch to give chase. Seconds later, George flew out of the nest to join Gracie and, as a tag team, you could see them swooping after and heading off the intruder. Gracie flew back to the nest to guard it and the eggs as George continued giving chase. A minute or two after Gracie returned and had positioned herself on the eggs, the intruder tried to land on the perch and Gracie leapt up at him. Gracie remained vigilant, periodically calling to George and alarming, until George flew to the perch, 14 minutes after the melee started … then we had a romantic-comedy – At 2:01 pm, George brought a headless fish to the nest and fed Gracie. After 3 minutes, Gracie said “I’d rather finish feeding myself, thank you”, and, after taking the fish from George, off she went. … And, there was the romance – At 6:19 pm, George brought a partial fish for Gracie and as she remained sitting on the eggs, he fed her for a full 14 minutes. To close out the day, at 7:52 pm, just as the sun was in the final stages of setting, George returned to the nest for one final time today, and as he stood, the sun cast the most beautiful rosy glow on his white feathers … the contrast was striking against the slate-blue of the water.
8:34pmEDT 5/17 It was a pretty sight about 8:30..I’ll call it the pink effect…George’s whole stomach, chest and throat and Gracie’s throat showed as pink….
I didn’t seethe Newsday article this year or the item on the news, as Jo-ann mentioned, about the fill kills last year and the likelihood of them happening again…They happened in previous years, but not to the extent of the three last year….There is a waste treatment facility and a large golf course, both on the Peconic River with fairly close proximity to the mouth of the river as it opens into the bay. The facility has issues and I don’t know the golf course’s commitment to organic, but green grass takes a lot of fertilizer, nitrogen rich. As usual, talk is cheap and action is not. Hopefully, such graphic proof as all those dead fish lining the riverbank will stick in people’s minds till something is done.OK off the soapbox,Carol…
About 9:26pm Again, when Gracie got to the left edge of the nest, as she flapped her wings, the lights below made the undersides glow..and of course, her squirt in glowing glory is always funny…
Then, one of the magic moments when the video jumps……now she’s standing, now she’s on the eggs….
May 17-8:17 pm- Haven’t been able to really watch George and Gracie for these past few days as I have been babysitting my grandson and have had a visitor or two. Have checked in, on occasion, just to make sure they’re still here. Enjoy the daily comments which help to catch me up on the daily events. And is there really a glove in the nest? I mean, seriously, what next? 🙂
checked in at 6:30pm, so sweet George feeding Gracie, weather not so nice here on long island
Hi All: Its about 6:40 pm Long Island time and George is feeding Gracie!! Absolutely precious and priceless! They are so cute together!
If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit. George didn’t do it.
Excellent video GinaM. Thanks for sharing.
To the left in the nest.
Or..something that resembles one..still laughing
LOL CarolV i see the glove..you crack me up..i’m missing one hehe
May 17- 8:22 pm- Well, I guess you know who got it! 🙂 🙂
2:10 pm How wonderful to see George feeding Gracie!!
Perfect — now I won’t have to do math in base 60!! And, just when I was getting good!! 😀
A wonderful video of a young male osprey vs a very large trout. Ospreys are magnificent.
https://www.facebook.com/BBCScotland/videos/1311855065510922/
GinaM: That was awesome and amazing to watch!! Thanks for the link.
Thank You That was Great!!!
May 18- Thanks for sharing. That was amazing to watch. How beautiful!
Did anyone loose a gardening glove ? Seems to be one in the nest !
where do you see a glove?
George brought Gracie a good size headless fish this morning a few minutes before 5:30, an almost immediately after she left George started defense mode as the intruder once again tried for a run at the nest. Gracie returned to the perch about 15 minutes later, and eventually came back down to sit on the eggs. It was quiet for awhile, but George has really kept an eye out and had a couple more times that he started the alarm chirping from on the perch. Sure wish this guy would get it through his head that he isn’t getting anywhere by pestering the g’s!!!!
About 6:45-6:50am Gracie took off and a minute later, George dropped in to nest…still there@7:25, I fly off to my lovely day @work…catch up with the G’s later…
About 5:15amEDT 5/17 George brings a smallish headless fish for Gracie and out she blows….
George did a fair bit of chirping while she was out..after about 13-14 mins, George flew up to the perch and Gracie flew down..no time for adult visiting while they were up there…
George seems to be hanging close by as I think that is him calling from nearby…pesky visitor in the area?
Still windy but at least the water is coming toward the shore today, not blowing outward! We need to add an anemometer to that nest protection package, Betsy….
Will get right on it!! 😀
Watching them pant today — I think we should also add a thermometer … and a rain gauge!! 😉 😀 Can anyone think of anything else to add??!! 😀
May 16- 11:57 pm- Just checking in on Gracie who seems to be doing fine. It’s brighter out tonight so I can see her all snuggied in the nest. I can even see her peaceful breathing. 🙂
GinaM regarding your comment about fishing lines, balloons, etc that are harming the wildlife. I was out with my boyfriend on our boat Saturday by Jones Beach and I was so upset to see so many balloons floating in the water. All different kinds, birthday, congrats, etc. We turned the boat around numerous times when we saw them floating so we could go back and get them out of the water. Most had ribbon tied to them. There were a few we couldn’t get that had blown up onto the marshes but we tried our best. I wish people would think before they released them into the air.
PS: It was great to see many Osprey nest on the down that way also. We must have past at least 10 that day, Most of them looked active.
That is so great you did that, SueB. Hopefully more people will follow your lead!! 🙂
Checking in this afternoon, George brought a large whole fish to Gracie a little before 6:30. They actually played tug of war for a moment, as George didn’t want to let go. But he did, and Gracie flew off with it. However, she returned to the nest about 17 minutes later, empty handed. Watching the rest of the evening play out George didn’t bring any more fish to her, and I’m wondering if she perhaps dropped it and lost it. No way she could have eaten much in that time frame, but hoping she had enough to hold her over night. George is doing such a good job providing for her, and it seems that most of the time he brings the fish to her after he has eaten the head off. Wondering too if he had planned to do that before handing it off to her, and that is why he didn’t let go immediately. Other thoughts?
I agree he was planning on “cleaning” that fish first…he has done that before..in,out, and back with headless……,Gracie was just too quick and determined !!
8:13pmEDT George came surfing in on a double clawful of grasses and reeds,,,Gracie goes out…,late for Gracie to be taking a break…Must be having a cocktail with the girlfriends…..
Back in 10-12 mins…Gracie took a quick stroll instead…
May 16th (8:20 p.m.EST) I have posted last year and earlier this season that George was not providing enough food to feed all three babies not because he was a first time parent and was inexperienced in his fishing skill it was because the area where George has to fish for food had three major fish kills due to nitrogen levels in the water which limited the amount of fish that were available. On the 6:p.m. news tonight on Channel 4 there was a reference to fact that this year the same situation will occur again this year. So no matter how good George is at fishing he will again be facing a lack of fish. This was a factor in what happened to our beloved Pee-Wee. Obviously this situation is becoming a very serious problem around here, I read this situation in Newsday recently also. There is no solution to this situation at this time but the EPA claims they are working on a solution. That will not help out this year. Also unfortunately no matter how we hope that that lump of fishing line will blow away it will not happen. It is now tangled I the branches and will be an ongoing problem. It is tangled in what was to be perches and as we know perches are a big aspect in the learning to fly process of the babies. Let us remember how much in love Sandy was of her perch we thought she would never leave it to fly south. I hate to say it but I think that fishing line will make a rescue necessary this year..
All and all, it seems to have been, so far, a pretty quiet routine day (if there is such a thing at the Georges’ nest) for the G’s:
From scrolling back and some real time watching:
— George and Gracie have been regularly switching to do incubation time;
— George has been bringing the occasional small things, such as clumps of dried grass and small sticks (mostly the sticks) – nothing big or peculiar – and I haven’t seen Gracie bring anything, not even leftover fish;
— At 1:43-ish pm: George brought a headless fish for Gracie and she came back in less than 8 minutes (7 minutes, actually – I estimated the time on scroll back that he brought the fish, but then it seemed to be so quickly that she was back, that I rewound to watch to see how long (short?) it actually took her!);
— At 2:30-ish pm: In the midst of her warning off a nearby passerby, Gracie magically changed her position from where she had been to being perpendicular to that and the piece of wood and dried plant clump that was toward the right lower corner of the screen view was now near the left lower corner of the nest. (If I didn’t know better, I would have thought Tommy et al thought a revolving nest was a good idea and had it magically installed (like the video appearances and disappearances of the G’s)!! 😀 ;
— When either Gracie or George has been on the nest, they have occasionally alarmed at passersby (maybe it should really be flyersby), but at 3:10 pm Gracie started alarming and then positioned herself over the eggs, still alarming, ready to leap up … the encroacher apparently was attempting to land in the nest or on the perch, because in the right upper corner of the screen, you could see the inside (yes, the inside!) of the end of its wing, as if it was “backing away” … and George flew back to the nest from wherever he was to add his voice to reinforce what Gracie was telling the intruder;
— At 5-ish pm: George was on the nest when he started alarming and then he stood up over the eggs to stress that he meant business … with the wind making him sway back and forth, it looked as if he was trying to balance himself while standing on a rocking chair!!;
— At 5:35 pm: Gracie returned to the nest and the seaweed, which had been on her right leg up until when she left at 3:50 pm, was gone;
— At 6:18 pm, George brought Gracie a good-size whole fish. He couldn’t quite release it from his foot as Gracie was grabbing it … then, it dropped from his foot and from her beak and they both grabbed it with their beaks and had a tug of war … eventually, Gracie was able to pull the fish away from George … at first, she couldn’t quite get a good grasp of the flopping fish with her foot, but with a little help using her beak, she did (looked like a tenuous hold, though!) and away she flew.
Gracie returned from her dinner at 6:39 pm and sat until George showed up at 8:13 pm to relieve her so she could have a short break. She was home, for the night, at 8:27 pm.
3:10pmEDT..Gracie was alarming, so George dropped in,,right in front of the camera..great close up of osprey on guard..Gracie was in the background attentively watching….Seemed the intruder was “behind” the camera for several minutes, then George took off as things calmed down….
Thought I heard sparrow baby chirps, but the wind kept roaring across the mike, drowning other noise…
About 3:50..George brought in a stick..Gracie said she needed to run errands and took off..If my timeline is correct, she was out for a long time(for her) Geo was getting impatient when she showed up about 5:35..Gra barely landed and he was out…
Geo back shortly with a long stick that required careful placement…”Pardon my tail feathers in your face, dear”. While his back was turned, the stick stood up and jumped overboard..{ I know, wind..but it was funny..} Off Geo went…
at 6:18pm George brought in a full fish to a noisy Gracie..He tried to keep control of it, but he lost the tug-of-war…Gracie took the time to tell him off, before she and the fish went on their dinner date…George settled in to his naptime…
Gracie was back @6:36…she couldn’t have eaten that whole fish !!! George didn’t even get his share first, as he usually does….
5:43pm Great site,lookslike Gracie is on the eggs, sitting in a nest row boat!
Patty K: In a nest row boat … that’s a really good one!! 😀 😀
Has anyone from East Marion or Orient noticed the large osprey nest which has been built on one of the electrical poles on the east bound side of the road by the Causeway? My family and I have nicknamed the owner of the nest Sparky, because last year when he built there, it seemed he may have shorted out some of the electricity to the surrounding houses. I think his nest was removed over the winter and Sparky returned this year and rebuilt better than ever. on the electrical pole I just noticed last week that some very kind people put up a new pole and platform just for Sparky which hopefully he will relocate to at some point. It looks much safer than the electrical pole. A big thank you to whoever arranged for that pole to go up…and go Sparky!
I saw that nest. I know that ospreys are love electric poles. In Oyster Bay, they are on the lights of the baseball field. They must like the humming lights. 🙂
May 17- 12:00 am- Hope Sparky finds his new platform. I’d hate for him to have to keep his nest on that pole. Good luck, Sparky, and keep us posted on how he’s doing. 🙂
May 16-4:00 pm- Nest Forecast: Partly cloudy. Windy this evening. Low 51F. WSW winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
Can’t wait for the winds to decrease. George and Gracie both deserve a break.
George just came in with a headless fish for Gracie … she was so eager to grab it and go, she grabbed a clump of grass with it … healthy Mediterranean diet, you know, lean fish and greens!! 🙂
Pat: Yes, they really are the George and Gracie of 2015 … many people compared their screenshots of G&G 2015 to screenshots of G&G 2016 (soon to be G&G&Co.2016) when they first arrived and all of the markings, down to practically every last little feather, are identical. (Scroll back to April comments [pages 25, 26, and 27] to see all the discussions).
Betsy, thanks for answering my question. Not only your comments but directing me to where I could read the discussion were just what I wanted. I enjoyed reliving everyone’s “is it George” “is it Gracie” comments. It’s awe-inspiring to see the order in the universe as they found their way home to their LI perch and to each other! And, now we get to watch the results of their homecoming take flight (hopefully!).
Correction to dates of eggs laid. 4/45, 4/28, and 5/1. Sorry for the mistake and yes I do watch other nests.
I scrolled back and saw that at approximately 6:00 a.m. George delivered a nice size headless fish to Gracie. She must’ve been really looking forward to that, after sitting on the nest all night with that terrible wind. The went to fly away with the fish, and it looks like the wind took her the opposite way of which I think she wanted to go. Hope she held onto breakfast! I felt so bad for her, the way the wind just blew her away. Wish this darn wind would die down, but it doesn’t look like it will today.
It is so cold here this morning. Sun going in & out. Rain predicted for today & tomorrow. Poor George & Gracie.
At 8:38 am, Gracie literally suddenly appeared in the nest (choppy video again … it was too funny) … As George lifted his wings to whoosh away, the wind caught them and he was blown forward a tad so his face almost crashed into Gracie’s still unfolded wing. … Oh, and before I forget, a little of that seaweed from yesterday late afternoon is still wrapped around the lower part of Gracie’s right leg (I would say ankle, but I don’t know if birds have ankles … got to go look it up!! 🙂 😀 )
And, I did:
“To keep their centre of balance when walking birds have evolved to have their equivalent of our thigh held permanently close to the body. The leg does not start to extend out from the body until after the knee joint which is never seen. The backward bending leg joint that you see in bird’s legs when they are walking is the equivalent of our ankle. A bird’s foot is the equivalent of the tips of our toes. Thus the part of a bird’s leg that looks like its shin is actually the equivalent of the arch of our foot.” (http://www.earthlife.net/birds/anatomy.html)
“Leg and Foot
The upper leg is composed of a fairly standard femur, but the lower leg and foot are highly modified by fusion of bones. Of course, between the femur and the fibula and tibiotarsus is the knee, whose location in birds is often confused. The tarsometatarsus is an extended fusion of the foot bones. This lengthening adds extra leverage for running, landing and take-off.” (http://fsc.fernbank.edu/Birding/skeleton.htm)
So, I guess I should have written “wrapped around Gracie’s right distal foot, just above her toes”!!! 😉 😀
Betsy…KISS..keep it simple,sister (paraphrased out of respect) distal,smishtal..ankle we all understand….but thank you for your efforts to educate ;+}
Yes, birds do have ankles. I looked it up.
Gracie did some wing stretches, her morning constitutional and more wing stretches at 5 am before settling back on the eggs … At 5:50 am George brought Gracie breakfast – headless fish. It was the first time I saw him at the nest this morning – usually he’s there a few minutes before 5:30 am, sometimes well before! He probably wanted to stay huddled up warm somewhere – who wants to have to take a dip in the water with a 44ºF temperature and 13 mph winds, making it feel like 35ºF! Poor guy, with the wind, he couldn’t land with his first attempt, so he had to circle around to try again – and then he was almost blown over sideways just as he was coming in to land! While he was on the eggs, the wind would sometimes blow the plastic over him so he was completely covered!! … At 6:38 am, Gracie returned to sit; nothing different from yesterday for her – wind and whipping snapping flapping plastic. … George was back 40 minutes later with grass; he rearranged a couple of things, nearly poking her in the eye with a stick when he grabbed the end of the plastic, picking up a stick in the process, before moving the plastic end over (I think maybe he was trying to pull it over Gracie to keep her warm 🙂 ). They exchanged a few chirps and then she took off …
I got an email from Rjoneal an hour ago stating that she had heard from another person that the wind is 22 mph … 13 mph or 22 mph – all’s I know is that it’s really windy … so windy that the sparrow’s birdhouse in the backyard blew around so now it’s facing another direction … I sure am glad the doesn’t happen to G&G’s nest … but, then again, think about what I could write!! … hmm …
6:53am, it is extremely windy today, NW winds, gusting in the mid-20’s. if the wind the last two days can’t free the fishing line snarl, nothing will.
Dark Sky app is saying that there will be high winds until 6PM tonight…average winds will be 22mph. The only way that fishing line is leaving the branch will have to break.
5:47amEDT 5/16 George brought Gracie’s fish..The wind is so strong, Gracie went “flying” out of the nest backwards !! And it looks like the water is blowing backwards….
May 16- 12:33 am- Yeah, I’m still awake so I thought I’d check on our girl. She seems to be doing just fine, sleeping at the moment. Fishing line is still there despite the wind. I checked the weather for tonight and it said winds between 20 and 30 mph. I did also see some small branches moving about but it doesnt look like anything major is going on with the nest. Plastic is still flapping away!
At 4:27 pm, George brought Gracie her dinner of headless fish, and saw her off before checking the eggs that were now under the plastic, having gradually, between the wind and Gracie’s moving, worked its way over to cover them, like a table runner, from the right side of the nest across to nearly the left. A half hour after Gracie took her dinner break she was back. As George got up from the eggs, the wind caught the plastic, and it was free to whip about once again. But it didn’t stay that way for long – as Gracie, sitting on the eggs, shifted a little, the plastic blew over so that when she lay down again, it was partially under her. At 5:50-ish pm, George delivered to Gracie a rather bloody headless fish (which when he first put it down, between the sun and its angle and his foot on the tail, looked almost like a burrito!). As soon as she was gone, before making his way over to the eggs, George, forever the tidier, moved to the side the stick he had brought earlier in the afternoon. And, the plastic, set free again when Gracie had gotten up, was blowing, but since the wind had died down somewhat, not as crazily. Gracie returned at 6:20 pm, with seaweed twisted around and hanging from her right leg like a falconry tether, and seaweed wrapped around the back toe of her left foot (thanks Rjoneal for emailing me and pointing it out). She took her place on the eggs, changing her position a few times as the sun gradually set. And the wind has calmed so now the plastic is just fluttering.
7:26pmEDT 5/16 After going back to look at that bracelet a couple of times, I think it may be seaweed…..hopefully I panicked for nothing…
Sunday 4-15-16. At 6:53pm did anyone else catch that you could hear what sounded like an ice cream truck down below playing the music.
Hi, Rjoneal, I didn’t hear it this time, but I remember hearing it a couple of times last summer…Guess they don’t have fish popsicles, cause the G’s never got anything for the kids….
6:44pm EDT I scrolled back to see that Gracie was out about 1/2 hr. and came home wearing a very unattractive bracelet…at first I thought both feet were involved, but she was just stepping on a loose end with the other foot…It doesn’t seem too tight, so maybe she can work it off….hopefully….
This is my first email even though I’ve been checking in on Osprey Zone in amazement since early 2015. Wonderful combination of generosity, technology and a natural peek at osprey life! Thank you! In searching through the emails I can’t find answers to my basic question: how do you know that today’s George and Gracie are the original osprey couple from 2015? I’m sure it came up but I can’t find it.
5:35pmEDT 5/16 Hi..if you haven’t seen it, scroll back to GinaM’s comment @11:30 today…most recent positive ID..others agree…..
4:26pm The dinner bell rang..George brings in a good sized headless fish…Gracie made sure she had a good grip and off she went…
The plastic had blown across the eggs, so George kind of checked them and rolled them a little..and lays right across the plastic..at least it’s not flapping in HIS face….not that piece, anyway….
On the scroll back, it looked like Gracie spent most of the afternoon in the nest..I saw George take a turn twice, but Gracie was back quickly, seemingly in about 10 mins. The last time, she practically had to push Geo. out…He looked like he wanted the nap and fidget time……
At 12:36-ish pm, Gracie, on the eggs since her return just before noon, dozing off and on, picked up her head and began watching and following something flying, and then she started alarming. Two ospreys, one chasing the other, flew low directly overhead and continued out toward the water. After watching for a few more seconds, Gracie went back to dozing off and on, her head and face still near to and getting slapped by the plastic sheeting, and it occasionally draping over and curling around her body. At 2-ish, George came to relieve Gracie, bearing a fat twig and some dried grass for the nest. 10 minutes later, Gracie flew from the perch to circle around over the water before landing in the nest and George did the same in reverse – leaving the nest to fly out over the water before coming in to land on the perch. George came back 25 minutes later at 2:35-ish, bringing more grass, and Gracie left, her wings smacking into the camera housing as she went. George stood for a minute, rocking in the wind (and a starling flew into the housing below), before George sat. After a quick 6-minute or so break, Gracie was back, and, while she did a little housekeeping they quietly chirped back and forth, before Gracie nudged George over. As he stood up, George started alarming, then Gracie chimed in; the intruder rushed up toward and over the nest and George leapt up after him to give chase. Gracie started begging as she saw George approaching at 3:45 pm; he was did not bring her the fish she seemed to be expecting, instead he brought a “loofah” that he placed first on Gracie’s back before placing it in front of her face and then moving it off camera to the right. And then he took off…