:hello: Everyone,

Thank you Janet for your ground photos from your time at the nest yesterday. I found it interesting to see the photos of the chick with his fish in talons on the 'pointed' post...must be quite a skill to remain balanced on that. No wonder he returned to the nest within a few minutes to continue eating.

Thank you also, Terry, JudyB, BET, and IrishEyes (Welcome back ), for your input, recollections, observations, posts to other valuable links, and re-posts of previous s'caps.

IrishEyes, that was indeed a wonderful s'cap to see one of our chicks bring a fish to the nest back on Aug. 21.

JudyB, I've spent some time going to the links you posted gathering information and going to more links from those posts. I must say, it is all very eye-opening and informative regarding the juvies learning their fishing skills, as well as the osprey's migration back south. Reading the article posted by Lisa - Aug 2006, Heading South - was to say the least...I had no idea what dangers the osprey face back at their winter grounds. I don't know how many years our Dad from this nest has returned, but it seems if the same adults make it back to the nest year after year, that is a feat in itself for them.
All

Well, it appears that both chicks have been away from the nest for sometime. The last I read, one chick departed this morning at about 8:13am after eating, and the 2nd chick left sometime btw. 9:25-10:05am as the last image I took with him still on the nest was at 9:25am...next time I looked at 10:05am the nest was empty. Hopefully, this is a strong indication that both chicks are out learning/fishing with Mom. It would be such a delight to see another chick come home to the nest with their very own fish!

12:20pm - Little Blackbird? on nest.

BET, Thank you for going back through that intruder incident from Sunday...it must be very time-consuming.

As I was watching the event unfold, it happened so quickly but I thought I caught a glimpse of yet another O in the field of view, but was too uncertain to even mention it.

Your s'caps detailing the entire event are spectacular, especially of the O with the fish in its' talon.
Perhaps they were siblings looking for a cozy place to land and eat the catch that one of them had.

BET, your third s'cap is showing the intruder flying away already, it was still visible on or just above the nest when our juvenile came in and flared her wings. This all happened within the 4 second time frame that your first three posts show - too quickly to capture it all in live time. Luv did very well to snag that s'cap.

I really don't know how Mom does it all.

Thanks for checking to see that Mom isn't a direct descendent of Dad. Banding sure helps in that case and would have saved our poor juvenile had it been done - that and a proper timely release.

1:00 pm The nest is still empty, - a good sign. imo.

And JudyB, I believe that the fish you saw on the nest this morning was the leftover fish that one of our juveniles stayed on the nest to guard last night. Jean caught a s'cap of that juvenile nibbling at it late last night and the fish and juvenile were still there this morning. It was brought in just after 8 pm by Mom and was a big one.

Has anyone seen Mom this morning?

Just read your post, Luv, and agree that the references to the Window on Wildlife Forum were very informative and worth reading. Thanks for that, JudyB, and all that you for us do on the Hancock Forum.

Quote by: Bluebird1

And JudyB, I believe that the fish you saw on the nest this morning was the leftover fish that one of our juveniles stayed on the nest to guard last night. Jean caught a s'cap of that juvenile nibbling at it late last night and the fish and juvenile were still there this morning. It was brought in just after 8 pm by Mom and was a big one.

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Hello J D , I think the s'cap JudyB posted of this morning's fish appears to show a fresh catch...but my observations may be incorrect.
At first, I also thought it was last night's remains until I had a closer look.

This is JudyB's s'cap enlarged - 6:59am - It appears to have a head on.


Last night's delivery was headless.
This is what remained prior to Janet's post of the chick munching on it again at midnight.
8:54pm last night



BET, I was thinking more about your comments about the chicks 'losing' 2-4 days due to the hailstorm and physical trauma it would've caused them. I realize now, just how significant '4 bird days' would be in terms of their skill development...especially at that time period of their life.

2:28pm - Nest still remains empty.

A couple of O's enjoying themselves on the river?

One O skimming over the head of another O? :dunno: Just having fun speculating.
2:35pm

JudyB, Regarding the Milford, CT nest: Do you know where this nest is situated?

It's very puzzling to look at. When I look at it, it makes me think of a nest sitting inside a gigantic glass bowl.
What is all the glare/distortion around the outer part of the field of view?

3:00pm - Empty nest remains. This may be the first time it has been empty for this many consecutive hours.

This must be a good sign that they're all out fishing. Unless they've all migrated today?

3:35pm empty nest!
black bird flying over the water near the sandbar

Hi guys, just wanted to log a ground visit from about 1:30 to 2:30pm this afternoon. Although the nest was empty, there was one chick sitting on top of one of the adjacent poles the whole time I was there. I did not observe (or hear) any other nearby ospreys - though my reliability as an observer may be in question (see below!).

Dramatic backlight and clouds:


Turns out "pole" chick was standing on a fish, and enjoyed a great meal while I was there:


So, I have also been driving by the nest platform on Memorial Drive just east of Crowchild Trail, and smiling to myself as I saw what must have been the white head of an osprey bobbing up and down. I walked over to the nest today to discover that, in fact, it's a plastic bag:


In my defense, traffic is fast along there with merging cars zinging around, the evening light was poor, and my aging eyesight apparently poorer (sigh...). Plus, it could be that the residents were just out for the day today, like in our zoo nest. Anyways, that leads to a question for other Calgary observers - how are the "other" un-camera-ed nests doing? Are any of the usual nests still occupied?? Just curious!

Also wondering, BET, if any of the previous banded chicks from Calgary have been identified later? Do we know if they came back to the Calgary area?

Thanks,
Sharon