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osprey 07/11/15 squirt
First Sighting
George and Gracie's First Baby
Eggs Over Easy
Changing of the Guard
Breakfast is Served
Upgrading
Feeding Time
First Love
Let's Hang Out
Hard to Get
Little Brother
Intruder
Dinner is Served
OspreyZone Montage
OspreyZone Highlights: George Returns
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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
MAY 31 “Guess for 1st Egg Hatch” list ?
Day #36 since 1st egg was laid
The actual time of hatching will be recorded as the very first time the chick is free and completely independent of its egg.
Kathy B – 11:13 am
Bobbie – between noon and 5 pm
Ann H – 1 pm
Elaine – 6:00 am
I am so excited, I can hardly contain myself! (Please, Aidan or Paul, don’t discard this comment). I was poking around another osprey webcam site located in the MDT zone; they had 2 of 4 eggs hatch on 5/29 (the 1st @ 6:06 am MDT & the 2nd @ 5:26 pm MDT) and the 3rd on 5/30 @ 10:10 am MDT. And, Mike recently brought up a question about hatch times in regard to a site he watches (see my post May 27, 2016 at 6:15 am) that had 2 hatches on the same day, with the 3rd hatch a day and a half after the 2nd. I remember back at the end of April, after Gracie laid her 1st egg, there was discussion about parent osprey not incubating the 1st egg right away, so that the 1st and 2nd eggs will hatch closer together (conflicting with expert avian sites that state that incubation starts right away, leading to asynchronous hatching of days apart). There was a comment on the MDT webcam site stating, in effect, that there have been more and more documented cases of delayed incubation leading to closer hatching, including mention of a documented “twin” hatching last year in an Estonian nest, and that, although uncommon, apparently this is not as rare as once thought. I have read about other behaviors that viewers of various osprey webcams have observed that are opposite to what is stated on the expert sites. There is, apparently, still a lot of information unknown about these beautiful birds. I don’t know how researchers glean their information, but, perhaps they should read the observations of the viewers, a lot of whom watch these webcams almost nonstop.
At 7:02 pm, Gracie turned the eggs, and then, after settling back in, she briefly fussed with the “rag.” The wind sounds as if it’s been picking up – maybe the “rag” will blow off the nest during the night. … After George flew in at 7:36 pm with a big jumble of dried grass and twigs, Gracie flew off. She seems to usually head left after she leaves – I wonder what’s in that direction. … Just before 20:49 pm, George was still on the nest and it was nearly dark. Gracie came racing home to land on the perch, giving a hurried chirp to George as she flew in (Sorry, I know I’m late). 😀 George took off and Gracie hopped down onto the nest.
I hope everyone had a memorable Memorial Day! Sorry to the people that picked 5-30-16 for the egg hatch it didnt happen but keep watching it will happen soon. Good Luck to everyone else.
7:37pGeorge brings in double clawful of seaweed with another claw sticking out of it….Gracie goes off …
Was beginning to think Gracie was taking a night out!!!8:49 when she got back…..
May 31- 11:07 am- I was getting worried that something had happened to her.
Gracie came back to the perch at 4:34 pm; a half minute later George flew from the nest and then Gracie came down to sit on the eggs. At 5:50 pm Gracie stood up to stretch her legs and wings, preen and, after first looking around, poop (WE can see you, Gracie). She then flew up to the perch, staying for half a minute while exchanging a few chirps with George (George had returned to the perch at 5:21 pm), before flying from the perch, looping out over the water, and landing back in the nest at 5:52 pm, where she’s stayed put, changing her position at times and dozing for long periods (I should have made my video today!! 😀 ).
Hello;-) & “Happy Memorial Day!”, got up early this morning to check the nest, didn’t see any sign of a HATCH..went to work for a half day and came home in the afternoon and still no sign :-{ of a HATCH..lol came on now is evening and saw Gracie looking so cute sleeping lol “out cold” so guess it wont be today for a new peeper, for us few who guessed this timeline,so looking forward to tomorrow and so on..until then still excited we’ll be expecting new arrival! Hope everyone had safe Memorial weekend! 😉
Bre: I’m sorry you didn’t choose the right hatch date. But, we’ll all be winners in the end, no matter when our chicks hatch!!
Gracie landed up on the perch at 2:23 pm. She did some begging calls to George, still sitting on the eggs. He got up, and after having some trouble getting lift to fly away, he just vanished (ha ha – jumpy video steam 😀 ). Gracie hopped down to sit. At 3:10 pm, Gracie got up to stretch, standing at the front of the nest, giving us a good look at her breast feathers – but not to worry, between the rain, the brood patch and some old feathers falling out as new feathers come in during breeding season (for females – not in males during the breeding season, since during this period, they have to hunt for their mates as well as their young which demands greater than normal flight efficiency), she now looks a downright mess; but soon enough she will look presentable again. At 3:25-&-change pm, George brought Gracie a (very) small partial fish, which she hung onto this time as she flew away, just after 3:26 pm. She returned a tad over 4 minutes later, trying to land on the perch, but apparently not able to get a hold of it and fluttering down into the nest next to George then he flew up to the perch. Eventually, after standing for a bit, cleaning her beak off, and shaking out her feathers, Gracie made her way to the eggs and sat. She fussed with the “rag” for a little when she first sat and then ignored it. At just about 4:03 pm, George brought Gracie a whole silvery fish; after she managed to wrest it away from George (it looked as if he was having trouble releasing the fish from his foot – it was hard to tell with Gracie’s body in the way) and grasping it in her left foot, she held her foot with the fish up off the nest while balancing herself on her right leg before flying away … she probably did not want a repeat of her fish fiasco of this morning!! 😀 George is now sitting on the eggs.
4:02pmEDT 5/30 George forged thru the fog to bring Gracie a nice fish, head still on…She was very happy to see it! I had thought he was coming in an hour ago, as she was up and chirping and backing up, like she does when he is coming in…but no show..
Gracie back @4:35pm….lots of activity with the neighbors..the sparrows pop in and fly around….too cute !!
At 9:39 am, George came back to nest bringing a … stick – not the same as a fish, that Gracie was probably so wishing for!! – that he left toward the left front of the nest and which was then shifted a little closer to the egg bowl as he made his way to sit on the eggs after Gracie flew off. George spent his egg-sitting time, in the rain, mostly dozing, yawning at least once, and changing his position periodically while the neighbor sparrows stopped by regularly to hop about the edge of the nest to snatch – or try to snatch – pieces of dried grass for their own nest. By the time Gracie got back at 11:33 am, it looked as if the rain had stopped, although it remained dark and cloudy. Shortly before 11:49 am, Gracie started watching George flying around nearby and began her begging calls. George then landed on perch, leaving 10 minutes later and returning at 12:45 pm with dried vegetation. This gave Gracie the opportunity to take a quick break, and she come back a few minutes later with a … rag?? (Better for housekeeping!!) She then moved George’s in-the-way-stick to the right back corner as he was getting up from the eggs, dropping the stick as she went, the end of it knocking George in the head and it (the stick!) almost landing on the eggs (hellooo, this is your mommy … when are you coming out … no pip yet … maybe tomorrow … [see rjoneal’s May 25 post re hatching]). George flew up to the perch, where he stayed until 12:57 pm when, after telling him she needs a break, Gracie got up from the eggs and flew off. George hopped down from the perch to egg-sit, where he still is as I post …
Did anyone catch the ‘thief’ that was stealing nesting material? 12:24:36.
change of shift observed at 12:46 May 30. 3 eggs apparent.
May 30, 2016 – Love this web cam and these ospreys. Looking forward to the little ones
The downstairs neighbors (house wrens) are busy “borrowing” some of George’s nestorations for their home. The father-to-be is just resting, not bothered by these little birds. So cute!
5/30/2016 8:01 AM EDT
George brought Gracie a fish. She grabbed it, but then flew off the nest and left the fish behind, Guess she needed exercise more than food!. George settled down on the eggs.
Today is Memorial Day ⚑. It’s raining – courtesy of the remnants of tropical storm Bonnie. I wonder if my local Memorial Day parade will be cancelled. … At 5:24 am George flew to nest, landing on the “ramp,” then he tentatively took a few steps down it toward Gracie on the eggs. He stood near her for a couple of minutes while Gracie told him she is wet and hungry (and he declaring, once, to the world that this is his turf), then he flew away. … At 7:05 am Gracie got up off the eggs to flap her wings and, standing on the “ramp,” shook some of the rain off of her and then her feathers were sticking out every which way! After a couple of minutes, Gracie carefully made her way down the “ramp” back to the eggs. … At present, Gracie is still on the eggs … George needs to come with a ? or an ☂!!
At 8:01 am, George came with a fish … after having a little trouble grasping it with her foot, Gracie got hold of it … but, because she had managed to grab the “ramp” as well, as she took off, the fish slipped out of her grasp, staying in the nest!! And away she went. I wonder if she even knew it had dropped??!! … she still hasn’t returned to the nest to retrieve the fish … there it is on the ramp, tail flapping once in a while with the wind!!
At 8:12 am, George, sitting on the eggs, and having noticed the fish still there after Gracie flew away, now looked back over at the fish; after getting up off the eggs, he looked back and forth between them and the fish – the fish won out. George went over to it and picked the fish up, first with his beak, then with his foot (and sneaking in a bite) before he flew up to the perch. After a minute on the perch, George, hopped back down to the nest to eat some of the fish (the heck with the eggs!!). Then he flew away with the rest of it at 8:21 am. Gracie flew back to the nest at 8:23 am to sit on the eggs … to be cont’d (have to make my coffee now!)
I have been waiting to see if George would return with the (whatever is left of) fish and either give it to Gracie or feed her … she and I are still waiting!! As I type, I hear Gracie begging. Maybe George is nearby?
Meanwhile, on two separate occasions in early May, George had brought a fish to the nest in the evening – leaving it there beside Gracie … where.it.stayed.all.night.without.her.touching.it!! What does that say about George?? (Or, about Gracie??) 😀
Actually,George didn’t fly up to the perch — he flew away from the nest before eventually coming back to the nest! (I realized that when I was making a video copy) 😀
Oops sorry I didnt realize the first post had been sent and yip it is still raining.
May 30th 06:35 Poor Gracie, Rain pouring down on her. Think the chicks should stay where they are till the nest dries up.
May 30th 06:25 Poor Gracie, Rain pouring down on her. Hope its dry when the babies arrive or they might want to stay in their shells.
5:24amEDT 5/30 George stopped in to say hi…It’s a cool, foggy morning…we had heavy showers
HAPPY B’Day to ROBIN !!! Remembrances to all who have lost loved ones in the service of our country and thank you to those who have served….
3:30 pm Gracie’s lulled to sleep with the rocking of the nest … she better get those zzz’s in before the babies hatch!! 😀
https://youtu.be/XL0c3FqLd_c
Betsy
If it’s not to late for predictions for hatching
Egg #1 May 31@ 0800hrs
Egg # 2 June 04 @ 0945hrs
Egg # 3 June 05 @0200hrs
I’m going out on a.limb and say
All Three Eggs on Mat 31 @ 1800 hrs with 18 hrs between all three hatchings
Mike Martin
Mike: Well, it was after 8 am today when I saw your post — for the 1st egg … no hatch yet. (Bummer for us all!! But that would be something if they all hatch within a day or 2 of each other!! — see my post of May 31st re “twin” hatchings!!) I don’t know if we’re doing guesses for the 2nd hatch … what do you say all?
Sandy is on the nest right now…I can’t wait for a hatch! Monday…Memorial Day is going to be a very rainy day here on Long Island! Can’t wait for the babies!
Checking on our beloved George & Gracie brings some much needed quiet and relaxation into my life. Thank you to all the frequent posters for keeping us viewers in the loop, it’s so very much appreciated:)
7:00pmEDT 5/29 Weather forecast…fog rolling in (I can feel it in the air already) increasing chance of rain overnight with probability of rain tomorrow and Tuesday……
Looks like Tuesday’s original forecast changed to part sun,,they should just change name to guesscast…..
6:35pmEDT Gracie’s home…had a good meal and some exercise…..George went up to the perch….
And left @6:38…Thought he might keep her company….Other fish to fry…yeah, I know, bad……….
Good..he came back and is challenging the fly-bys…..
I just had a chance to watch the video that rjoneal shared … amazing to watch – I can’t wait to see our own little ones hatching! Thank you rjoneal for sharing!
May 30 ⚑ “Guess for 1st Egg Hatch” list ?
The actual time of hatching will be recorded as the very first time the chick is free and completely independent of its egg.
Bre – morning around 9-ish am
Donna – afternoon 2-ish pm
Mary Y – ? time
Robin – ? time
4:28pm Saw shadow of George sitting on the perch for a few minutes..took off and then flew in with a clawful of grasses….Gracie is speaking to him…I think she wants a fish…she stood up as if to emphasize the point…and.off he goes
4:41pm looks like George is on perch again….Gracie was chatting to him..now, he’s yelling at someone…hope he’s cleaning a fish for Gracie…
Sounds like the kids downstairs are getting fed…and Gracie is getting impatient….@6:47, she stood up to speak more to George, when he took off (shadow)..she looked all around and apparently didn’t see him, so she did her yoga poses, then settled back down….
@5:47..George brought the dinner..nice sized headless fish..and she’s off….he’s busy cleaning his beak as he takes over the eggs.
@2:14pm George came in with a wimpy stick and took his turn @ baking uh..incubating……at least the breeze has picked up, which should help…@3:12, started alarm calls and Gracie flew in to perch to back him up..TEAMWORK,!!! I think George flew out and around to perch and Gracie dropped in
3:10pm Rjoneal…watched the egg hatch video and it was exhausting just watching that struggle !! Thanks for posting…But I made the mistake of clicking on other videos offered…NOT for the faint of heart…but the other side of the joys in nature watching…..Note to self..Read explanation first !!!
Betsy…I went hunting in spam, in trash, in deleted, in any place I could click and found nothing….maybe they got tired of me changing my mind, tho I think it was just yes, no, yes…..Thanks for the consult….
😀 You’re welcome.
Sorry the suggestions didn’t work out 🙁
12:20pm5/29 Looks like Gracie is cooling off…the eggs,too….She has been standing, with wings out part of the time…….I think I heard Geo upstairs…
11:03amEDT 5/29 Lots of alarming calls..sounds likeGracie on perch to chime in, but George seems content to stay on eggs…
Noisy neighbors today…and more chirping…I don’t hear Gracie, so maybe George is calling for relief?
And she drops in @ 11:46 just as I posted previous…..
10:32am YYYAAAYYY!!!!! Brunch delivery…so tasty, George has a last bite before turning over to Gracie…….on to egg and fidget duty….with an occasional nap, I’m sure
5/29/2016 Current “Guess for 1st Egg Hatch” list ?
I took a peek at another website’s “Chick Hatching Competition” for what’s considered hatched so it’s not fuzzy 😀 The actual time of hatching will be recorded as the very first time the chick is free and completely independent of its egg. Sound good?
MAY 30 ⚑
Bre – morning around 9-ish am
Donna – afternoon 2-ish pm
Mary Y – ? time
Robin – ? time
MAY 31
Kathy B – 11:13 am
Bobbie – between noon and 5 pm
Ann H – 1 pm
Elaine – 6:00 am
JUNE 1
Leanne – early morning
GinaM – ? time
Marian K – 6:30 am
JUNE 2
Lucie Pecor – 2 am
JuneC – between 8 am and 11 am
Kathleen – 5:30 am
Marlene – in the morning
Isobel – between 3 pm and 5 pm
PattyK – afternoon
JUNE 3
Rjoneal – between ? am and 12 noon
Leesa – 7am
Judith – 7:50 am
Rodee Hansen – between 9 am and 3 pm
Laura – afternoon
JUNE 4
Jara – 12:01 am
CarolV – between 5 am and 11am
Betsy – 1 pm
JUNE 5
Tucker – 7am
Margaret – between 7:00 am to 3:00 pm
Redkayak – morning
JUNE 8
LynD – between 6 am and 2 pm
7:48amEDT 5/29 Gracie’s back in the nest….Lots of boats out on the bay…..Gorgeous day to throw a line in and sit back….hope the fishermen remember to keep track of their excess line and don’t cut their lines to release fish….
Gracie had plenty of time to run to the store this a.m. Probably lines of customers picking up holiday bbq supplies….Just saw a sparrow flit past edge of nest..one of the neighbors’ kids?
5:36amEDT 5/29 Breakfast arrived, nicely trimmed by George…Gracie goes off in the pink tinged sunrise…beautiful, calm bay this morning; looks like another good day..GM to all
May 28- 7:32 pm- I Hope Everyone Has A Very Safe And Happy Memorial Day Weekend. 🙂
I remember last year George brought in some cooling seaweed and they put it on top of the eggs. Today will be another hot one. Maybe they will remember 🙂
The intruder flies by again early this morning I forgot to put the time down. Gracie sent out the distress call and George appeared and they both let him know he’s not welcome.
George flies in @ 6:30 EST with a nice size fish with the head still on. Gracie tried to grab it but George leaves and returns about 10 min later with no head, Gracie does the snatch and grab and she is gone. About 8:25 he brings in another fish and sits and eats breakfast with her, and also shares with her. That is so sweet to watch.
Another distress call from Gracie @ 9:26. I didn;t see the intruder but I’m sure he was around.
Saturday 5/28/16 early-morning Gracie starts crying out to Geo for food he stops by the nest to see if she wants to go out for her morning exercise but she only wants a fish. He realizes she wants food so he leaves comes back with a big whole fish I think just to brag see Honey look at what I caught. As soon as Gracie tries to take the fish he realizes he’s not going to get any so he leaves the nest with the whole fish. Geo being the good hubby he returns with only the head off she had quite a big morning breakfast. Then later on he returns with a half of fish and feeds Gracie in the nest for her morning snack. It was almost as if instead of having coffee together they were having fish together and bonding. Real windy today weather is not supposed to be to good. Hope the rest of the day is uneventful with no Mr. intruder around.
5/28/16 at 8:28 am George was feeding Gracie while she sat on the eggs. Then he alarmed and both were watching the sky. Going to be another hot one for them both. Won’t be long now before we start to see some little ones.
6:31amEDT 5/28 again ..George is playing now you see it, now you don’t…he arrived with a whole fish and took off when Gracie came for it !!!!! He brought it back @6:41am, nicely cleaned…Guess he remembered, Gracie doesn’t return any!!
8:01am George stopped back..Gracie must have thought “Another time out?” as she jumped to perch, but Geo took off and Gra came back down. More flitting sparrows…practicing, I guess….
Gess I misposted? We are not time traveling…should be under 5/29 7:59am post of mine……makes much more sense…..
Betsy May 27, 2016 at 8:07 pm – Reply
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Mike: I see your post for adding hatch date guess … going scientific 😀
Robin and Mary Y: I need your time guess.
If anyone else wants to add their name and guess date/time, please post it ASAP. The ? is ticking! 😀
All Osprey Zone Followers I found some info to share !! As that day nears, we’ll be watching the parent (probably the female) on the eggs to see if she seems restless. The parents will hear the chick chirping and might feel it moving inside the egg before hatching occurs. The hatching process is very hard on the chick, and the youngster must stop quite frequently to rest, so the hatching (from first pip to leaving the egg) can drag out over 24 hours.
Below is a video of a chick hatching at the Loch of the Lowes osprey nest in Scotland. The video shows the end of the hatching process, when the chick is finally able to push off the top of the egg and emerge.
https://youtu.be/WQQCjC7bm8E
Some cam watchers have asked in the past if the parents ever help the chick get out of the shell. Most biologists will say that the parents do not help, but I’ll admit that I’ve seen a couple videos over the years where it looked like the parent might be moving the shell aside. Whether that’s helping or not, I’m not really sure, but it does seem that most parents leave the hatching to the chick.
Great information. Thanks for sharing. I was just scrolling back on the mornings events and thought to myself that Gracie seems a bit restless, as she is getting on and off the eggs a bit more than I’ve seen her so the past weeks. May have to rethink my time guess!
A little before 4:28 pm, George saw Gracie flying around, returning from her late lunch, and started calling to her to shake a tail feather … and, just as he took off, Gracie flew in. … At 5:02 pm, George returned to the nest with a partial fish; after first looking around (probably to make sure the pesky one wasn’t lurking about), he started feeding Gracie, for almost 11 minutes (sneaking in a few bites here and there), saving the tail for himself … which he swallowed without any trouble. Then, as he stood on the nest and she stayed lying on the eggs, they looked out over the water for several minutes afterward, in companionable silence, each quiet and contented … Gracie left without a chirp at 5:17 pm and George took his seat on the eggs.
I meant to come back right away to fix my last sentence 😀 … I had had the volume low and could only hear the wind blowing!! After raising it higher and scrolling back, I could hear Gracie! … so, I should have written: Gracie left with a few quiet chirps at 5:17 pm and George took his seat on the eggs. 😀
5:02pm…George brought in the tail end of a fish and fed his lady-love for a good 11-12 mins. before deciding it was his turn: down the hatch with the finny tail !!! about 5:17pm Gracie went off to see the sights and get some exercise…
The predictions for tomorrow are calling for possible high 80’s or even 90 in Manhattan…we, fortunately have lovely water surrounding us , so we will probably be 10-12′ cooler out here. That nice offshore breeze has helped keep the G;s a bit cooler on their nest today…about 70 right now, mid 60s overnight…..
George was funny … at 3:35 pm George brought a whole fish for Gracie … then, because he still had his wings extended and it was windy, as Gracie was reaching to grab the fish, George was whooshed away … she looked around on the nest for a second as if saying I know there was a fish here … George circled around to land on the nest again, and this time Gracie was able to take a hold of it … and off she went.
George came in about 1 pm EST and stayed until about 2:30 when Gracie returned. He’s now back again @ 3:35 to relieve Gracie again. They are such good parents. It should be any day now that we see our first little peeper.
3:35pmEDT George must have been on perch,,Gracie had a lot to say and he was answering..He dropped in to nest and had a nice fish, head still on…Gracie was making her way over to grab it when he took off over the bay…figured he was going to clean it..but he made a Uturn and came back to hand it over…
George scratched and fidgeted his way thru til 4:28pm Gracie didn’t save anything for him…
Saw a paddleboarder go by…envious..if I had better knees (and pretty much everything else!) that looks like something I would try !!
3:04pm I went all the way back in comments, to June,2015…too funny…people were worried about the same things…someone suggested an umbrella..someone was worrying about hatching…etc….We do love our Osprey family!!!! There’s alarm calls happening…lots of fly-overs judging by how much calling I’ve heard today…pesty visitors!
I see CC osprey had first hatch today,,..first egg there was 4/17…….if that helps to narrow down our hatch time guesses…
I counted 40 days from your date for Tom & Audrey. So that would mean we should see our first hatchling around June 3rd.
Thank-You Betsy for the info about the timeframe for the Hatchings. I held off my predictions for the Births. I’ll come up with my prediction and post
One question , after the first egg was laid I remember that the weather on the North Fork was cold and rainy. Also I remember there was actually a Frost Warning posted. I wonder if all these factors will contribute to the date of all the predictions
Mike
I’m not Betsy..she will prob give you a more comprehensive answer…..But, the discussion at the time was that Gracie hadn’t fully kept first eggs completely covered at all times to regulate their temp until all eggs were laid…..keeping them a little cooler may have slowed development so that there would be a shorter time span between 1 and 3 hatch dates..in essence, cooler weather may have slowed development overall….in other words, it’s a crap shoot……..Clear as mud????
Current “Guess for 1st Egg Hatch” list ?
I took a peek at another website’s “Chick Hatching Competition” for what’s considered hatched so it’s not fuzzy 😀 (I found it a little confusing with “… complete release of egg. The babie out enough were parents have to feed …”) The actual time of hatching will be recorded as the very first time the chick is free and completely independent of its egg. Sound good?
MAY 30 ⚑
Bre – morning around 9-ish am
Donna – afternoon 2-ish pm
Mary Y – ? time
Robin – ? time
MAY 31
Kathy B – 11:13 am
Bobbie – between noon and 5 pm
Ann H – 1 pm
Elaine – 6:00 am
JUNE 1
Leanne – early morning
GinaM –
Marian K – 6:30 am
JUNE 2
Lucie Pecor – 2 am
JuneC – between 8 am and 11 am
Kathleen – 5:30 am
Marlene – in the morning
Isobel – between 3 pm and 5 pm
PattyK – afternoon
JUNE 3
Rjoneal – between ? am and 12 noon
Leesa – 7am
Rodee Hansen – between 9 am and 3 pm
Laura – afternoon
JUNE 4
Jara – 12:01 am
CarolV – between 5 am and 11am
Betsy – 1 pm
JUNE 5
Tucker – 7am
Margaret – between 7:00 am to 3:00 pm
Redkayak – morning
JUNE 8
LynD – between 6 am and 2 pm
Judith-
3rd June
1st peeK @ 7:50 am
1st peeP @ ?!
…love our Osprey Family…birds & humans!!!
1:06pm I’ve been meaning to ask…is that a claw sticking out of the lower left side of the nest?
I saw when George brought that in — a few days, maybe a week, ago — it was mixed in with a clump of seaweed … I couldn’t tell what it was, but, yeah, it looks like a claw.
5-27-16 12:24pm Geo sounds alarm intruder flying around and at 12:25 intruder goes right over nest Geo jumps up at him to defend his babies and nest Gracie seems to be on perch due to the movement of the camera. Gracie jumps down from perch to join Geo after Intruder flys off and Geo leaves nest. Looks like our intruder is making his daily rounds!
At 12:24 pm, George who was sitting on the eggs started alarming while watching something … then he stood up … Gracie, up on the perch, joined in with her voice … then the pesky intruder flew directly overhead apparently trying to land, and George, all ready, leapt up at it and it flew away out over the water … George continued alarming and tracking the intruder a little longer … Gracie hopped down from the perch … George and Gracie exchanged a few chirps and then George flew off and Gracie positioned herself on the eggs. …
Betsy and Rjoneal….I respect and admire you both…Love both your styles and all you add to this discussion….may all be well between you…..
Thank you, CarolV. I had sent an email to Rjoneal only stating that “I neatened the list up a little — it was killing my eyeballs!! 😀 ” It was never my intention nor did I in any way ever give any indication that I could do the Guess for 1st Egg Hatch list “better”. Rjoneal’s post was unwarranted and irrational. I am probably back to having a bulls eye next to my name on Rjoneal’s OZ commenter list … maybe even a daggar!! 😀
Time to take a deep breath and grain of salt and don’t make it worse…you’re both good people; kumbaya……peace…..hakuna matata…..
Carol IV I too was a little nervous when Gracie backed up on flat bark to squirt ! Your right I dont know if its cause we just cant stop looking at that wad of fishing line or because G&G are always rearranging the nest but I too feel like the nest is getting closer each day towards that awful Snari as you call it. Every time Geo brings in a big clump and he flys in on that side of the nest close to it I am always hoping some of it will fall right on top of it. I also liked your short but brief description of Gracie panting. You remember last year people talked about it a lot too then it looks so alarming if you dont know what she is doing .
Marlene you are welcome I am checking off the days on my calendar waiting on those babies too,cant wait!!
Bre you are welcome I too thought this would be perfect to put out before our babies hatch.
There’s an article in today’s (May 27, 2016) LI Newsday about the fire GinaM told us about yesterday (I will try to link, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to!)
http://pages.cdn.pagesuite.com/b/e/be1a7663-471c-4eac-a7f4-ecabadbbcaf0/page.pdf
5:00am 5/27 Beautiful sunrise, as the pink bled slowly into the blue-grey morning..about 5:34am, George appears over water,then in left corner, rising, gaining height, as he brings a big clump of seaweed home.Gracie takes off for her morning JABS session, getting her quads in shape. Back @6:22. George spent his time fidgeting and egg rolling.
About 7:32, Gracie was up and roaming the nest..Came in for a close up @7:33 {yep, I’m GORGEOUS !} Then, using flat bark as ramp, backed up for her morning squirt..I got nervous cause those big talons got close to the Snarl..seems like the nest has grown toward it..hopefully, some seaweed will get dumped on it!!!!! Bury it deep and render harmless…..
7:40am Breakfast !!! George delivers and takes his turn with the future kids…..
Momma’s home @9:28am
I checked back, because that seemed like a long time out for Gracie, but I didn’t see any switches in between. Guess she was on at the Mall and lost track of time……
Memorial Day sales!! 😀
9:00amEDT 5/27 Birds, like dogs, pant to cool off. No sweat glands. So Gracie panting is symptomatic of air temp., not her health.
As always, someone answered the question already, which I see when comments filled in…always the last to the party……
And I still am not getting e-mail posts….
CarolV: Try these steps to get email posts:
1. Check your Spam/Bulk/Junk folder
a. If you find an email there that doesn’t belong in the Spam/Bulk/Junk folder, you can usually right click on the message and that should bring up options, then click not
spam/bulk/junk
b. Add senders to your Contact list
2. The sender is blocked
a. Check your blocked address list to see if the sender’s email address is on it. You can unblock it.
b. Add senders to your Contact list
3. The email is being filtered
a. Check your email filters
4. Reply-to address is wrong (probably not applicable in your case since you said you are constantly checking the boxes to receive email updates!)
5. That’s all I know 😀
May 27-10:05- Thanks, Carol. I was just concerned she was panting so hard and seemed very uncomfortable but considering the temperature was in the 80’s there I can totally understand. Poor Gracie! I’d be panting and uncomfortable too!
Michael G. Martin: Mike, I saw your May 22, 2016 question in with the May 19th comments as a reply when I was looking a few days ago for an older post and it sounds like a good question that probably other viewers have. For various reasons I was not able to post earlier 😉 (BTW, Mike, you don’t have to post a comment as a reply, you can post a comment as just a comment). Mike’s question was in regard to the timing of hatches – he had been to another osprey webcam site: egg #1 had been laid 4/4/16 @ 7 pm, egg #2 was laid on 4/7/16 @ 4 pm, and egg #3 was laid on 4/10/16 @7 am; 1st chick hatched on 5/14/16 @ 8:22 am, 2nd chick hatched on 5/14/16 evening, and 3rd chick hatched on 5/16/16 @ 8:23 am (there was no mention on the site if chick #1 corresponded to egg #1 and so forth). Everything I have read states that eggs hatch asynchronously in the order in which they were laid – no mention anywhere, that I could find, of the spacing of hatches, whether 1 day between or 3 days or whether it corresponds to the number of days between eggs (the best that I could find was that the first chick emerges up to 5 days before the last one [other sites state that it could be up to a week!!]) On one site, the blogger wrote “We theorize that the eggs hatch in the order they were laid, so not all hatch at the same time (we need Dr. Spitzer’s input on that theory as well).” And, Gamma Carolyn commented on May 14th that sometimes it is not always the first egg laid that is the first to hatch (which makes sense to me – a same woman’s pregnancies aren’t all the same length, and since each egg was “conceived” (fertilized) at a different time, in my mind, each is really a different “pregnancy”.) So, does anyone know?
To rjoneal ;-)Wow! i absolutely loved reading the info on ” how babies hatch through the egg shell ” Thank You very much i so enjoyed it !!
Yes, Rjoneal, I enjoyed that too…..makes me speculate if the parents can feel that action and anticipate…or am I projecting human feelings on animals again?( have to check spelling on that $90 anthro word
CarolV: Yes, they do … and no, you are not!
From http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/osprey_cam_blog06/archives/2006_05.html and from http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/osprey_cam_blog06/archives/000152.html
A sign that the hatching has started is if the mother osprey is looking at the eggs a lot. She will hear and feel the chick trying to break through the egg before it makes an appearance, so her body language should indicate that something is happening. … As it works, the chick will make chirping noises, which the parents will be able to hear. The chick will frequently stop to rest — since breaking free is very tiring and its lungs have to get used to fresh air — then it will change position and continue cutting away until it has cut through the top end of the shell and is able to kick out the bottom section. This process could take 24 hours or more. Once the chick is out, it will not have to be fed right away because before it hatches, it absorbs the yolk and uses that for early nourishment. But we’ve seen the parents feed the young pretty quickly regardless.
May 26-7:08 pm- Can someone please tell me why Gracie does this with her head/throat? I’ve seen her doing it a lot today and am very curious as to why. Thanks 🙂
https://youtu.be/KYT0YGDIIqY
May 26- 7:10 pm- The movement I’m asking about starts about 35 to 30 seconds into the video. I apologize. 🙂
Leanne: Both George and Gracie do that (that’s George in the video, btw). I think it has something to do with the crop. (Below chicks’ crop
“Osprey Crops
Ospreys are diurnal raptors (active in the daytime), and all raptors of this type have a special organ called a crop, which is a swelling at the base of the esophagus that forms a storage area where food can be held for later digestion. When the chick’s crop develops over the next couple weeks, it will look like a small bulging protrusion on the chick’s chest, and its presence will make life easier for the whole family. For the chick, the crop means the little bird can quickly swallow food that its siblings might want, and for the adults it means the chick can go longer between feedings.
Besides storing food for later consumption, the crop also stores indigestible material — like bones and scales. These unusable fish pieces are captured in the crop and eventually molded into pellets that are later regurgitated. Whenever someone talks of pellets, we often think of owls; however, owls do not have crops — they eat their prey whole, so all the contents goes to their stomachs and that’s where the pellets are formed. Owls regurgitate pellets much more frequently than ospreys do, mainly because of their different eating methods.” http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/osprey_cam_blog/archives/2004/05/25/
There’s also more at: https://nutritionofosprey.wordpress.com/digestive-anatomy-and-physiology/
Hope that helps.
S
May 27- 5:21- Thanks for that info. Very helpful. 🙂
Just looks like a crop drop to me. That’s how they feed themselves from the food storage pouch, (crop) on the neck. It swells with eating and flattens as the food passes to the stomach.
May 27-5:22- Thank you 🙂
It is called a “crop drop”. This is info from the web, which explains it better than I could: How do Ospreys digest food?
Ospreys like other birds have a different digestive system then humans. Birds have no teeth which are usually a key component to digesting food. Instead of chewing their food Osprey’s swallow fish whole. they may shred off pieces of the fish with their beaks to help to swallow. Since they can not brake up the food in their mouths they have to do it in they stomachs. The birds stomach is broken into two chambers. The bird swallows its food whole then it travels to the first chamber known as the Crop. In this chamber the swallowed food is introduced to chemicals used to brake down the food, much like saliva in humans. Once the food is coated in the chemicals it is moved to the second chamber called the Gizzard. Here the food is “chewed”. The gizzard contains sand and grain like particulars that are used to help mash up the food.
May 27- 5:23- Thanks for that info. 🙂
Thanks, GinaM, for that link to the ospreys in Bay Shore. I’m glad the firemen were able to rescue three of the four chicks. I guess first responders never know what they will be called on to rescue!
Betsy and rjoneal, thanks for keeping track of our egg hatching contest. Sure are a lot of “contestants!” And, rjoneal, thanks, also for letting us know how the chicks actually hatch. Nature sure is amazing!
The next week or so should be very exciting!! Looking forward to the new babies.
16:02 big headless fish for Gracie
Betsy..that was below the belt..
I saw concerns voiced today about Gracie’s breathing. (I’m sure people probably saw George panting as well.) Both are fine. It was in the low 80’s today with relatively high humidity, making it feel even warmer; the nest is filled with decaying vegetation, which generates heat; the embryo itself increasingly generates heat as it develops; and they’re sitting with the sun beating down on them … Birds don’t have sweat glands; so, when they’re hot they “pant” (similar to what dogs do when they’re hot). Panting leads to respiratory evaporative heat loss – this is the most important form of heat loss in birds (see my May 10th post). They also hold their wings out away from their body to help them cool down … Ospreys do not generally need to drink water (although there are reports of adults drinking on hot days [https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Osprey/lifehistory]). Fish flesh supplies sufficient amounts of water to meet their requirements. And so far today I’ve seen George bring Gracie 3 large headless fish … And they’ve been alternating sitting on the eggs – giving each a break out of the sun.
5/26/2016 Here’s the Guess for 1st Egg Hatch list
I had sent an email suggesting that the hatch guess time be grouped by date order – I thought it would make it easier for everyone to read. I didn’t think it was a big deal and that the answer could always be no, that it was fine the way it was (especially since the person keeps a detailed list of everyone who was on Osprey Zone from the time it first started with their names and notes on whether to trust the comments, dislike the comments, if they’ve been nasty to other people, if they’ve been nice to other people, if they know what they’re talking about when it comes to ospreys and birds, or if it was someone that the person likes to communicate with via emails or phone numbers)
MAY 30
Bre – morning around 9-ish am
Donna – afternoon 2-ish pm
Mary Y – ? time
Robin – ? time
MAY 31
Kathy B – 11:13 am
Bobbie – between noon and 5 pm
Ann H – 1 pm
Robin – ? time
JUNE 1
Leanne – early morning
GinaM –
Marian K – 6:30 am
JUNE 2
Lucie Pecor – 2 am
JuneC – 2 am
Kathleen – 5:30 am
Marlene – in the morning
Isobel – between 3 pm and 5 pm
PattyK – afternoon
JUNE 3
Rjoneal – between 3 am and 12 noon
Leesa – 7am
Rodee Hansen – between 9 am and 3 pm
Laura – afternoon
JUNE 4
Jara – 12:01 am
CarolV – between 5 am and 11am
Betsy – 1 pm
JUNE 5
Tucker – 7am
Margaret – between 7:00 am to 3:00 pm
Redkayak – morning
JUNE 8
LynD – between 6 am and 2 pm
Robin: Oops, I see I put your name for both May 30 and May 31 … I’m crossing you off the May 31st date … Maybe they’ll hatch on May 30th giving you a happy birthday gift! 🙂 But I need a time frame (maybe the time you were born? 😀 )
Mary Y: I also need a time frame for your guess.
GinaM: I read your comment re couldn’t decide on hatch date … I took the liberty of putting you on the “official” list! 🙂 If you want, we could change it to between May 31st @ 9 pm to June 1st @ 3 am 😀
Oh I was born at 12:36am but put me down as late morning to noon? I really don’t think it will be tomorrow though… It’s going to rain… I think the first week of June..
You have it wrong. It was June 2 in the AM
Since a few people have AM will guess between 8-11AM
JuneC: Sorry, I just put down what Rjoneal had down!! Will have it corrected when I post updated version later!!
May 31 at 6:00 am
I got it … I will post updated version later.
I have seen Gracie’s restlessness today also. I DO have to say, its probably 85 degrees out there today, and laying on those eggs in the hot sun
would cause anyone to pant. The sudden change in the weather from the 40s to the 80s+ is unnerving and annoying at best. Where’s spring?
Where is the transition?
Thx for the weather report. Her panting is probably heat related. I am in TN and did not think the temp was that high on the Island.
Rick D: The places that I remember seeing people mention they were from were Washington, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Florida, Missouri, Texas, Tennessee, England, Illinois, and Louisiana 😀
and Virginia
Michigan here !
Gina thanks for sharing not all happy ending but almost and how wonderful it is that they were able to take action so quickly they are amazing people !! Do you think this is going to happen again I mean they say poss electrical fire but whats to prevent it from happening again? Do you know if they will try and do something to prevent it or not?
My heart was beating when the male intruder came and landed right on the nest as if it was his I knew he would not leave if he didnt find a partner obviously he has no partner or nest. He has nothing to lose. I really hope he gives up and realizes Gracie will not allow him to be there. Did you see George come flying up to the perch at the end he must have herd Gracie good Hubby!!