February 2013 – March 2013

It won’t be long now……

Ospreys have few natural enemies. If the eggs and the young, sometimes even adults, especially incubating females,are victims of predation,they are snatched from their nests by owls, under the cover of darkness. Eagles are another avian threat to osprey. Osprey and Eagles do not get along.

Even though ospreys, especially the males, fiercely defend their nests, a determined raccoon, fox, skunk or similar land predator might raid the nest to steal eggs or chicks. Ospreys tend to avoid these perils by building their nests on isolated spots such as islands, secluded trees, or on top of man-made structures such as The Taj Mahal.

The male osprey is a formidable predator, himself. He is a very large raptor, a bird of prey, with an average body length of two feet and a wingspan of over six feet. His sharp hooked, cycle shaped, beak easily tears flesh from his adversaries, not to mention razor sharp talons with death grip strength.

Before the presence of industrial humankind, Ospreys were widespread and abundant. However, the presence of guns, chain saws, toxic chemicals, synthetic fish nets and other modern products have brought harm to the osprey’s environment. All-in-all, however, ospreys have survived recent ecosystem changes fairly well.

Being fish eaters, they were one of the many species that were affected by the use of the pesticide DDT. Egg shells of the osprey became thin and weak, and reproduction was essentially extinguished. A ban on the use of this chemical in the United States led to a resurgence in osprey populations. Although the threat is gone in the U.S. and Canada, DDT is still used in other developing countries like Venezuela, and residues continue to be present in osprey tissues today.

Other threats include power lines, gunshots, and other forms of poisoning. Polluted lakes, rivers, and streams, and the loss of forested habitat along major waterways are additional threats.
Eagles worldwide are the main competitors of ospreys for the ecological niche of an aerial, diurnal, fish-eating, raptor. Different eagles compete with ospreys in different parts of the world. These eagles often rob ospreys of their catch and might also drive them off good foraging and nesting areas, or kill their young. The speckled appearance of osprey chicks camouflages them in the nest and may be an adaptation to minimize predation by diurnal avian predators like the bald eagle.

Harriett Raptor

Raptors are believed to have the keenest eyesight in nature because of the size of the eyeball and the eye muscles designed for rapid focus. Diurnal raptors have full color vision and two concentrations of cones (one directed to the side and one directed forward) in each eye, which control color perception.

The sharpest point of vision at these concentrations is called the fovea. When the fovea works in unison, they give raptors accurate depth perception, which is very important for birds of prey that must focus quickly when chasing moving objects.
The keenness of vision is related to the agility, size, and color of prey a raptor hunts. When a bird bobs its head, it is using its eyes like a range finder and focusing in on a specific area.

This special transparent eyelid closes laterally across the eye and is used to

• keep the eyes moist
• protect the eyes during flight
• protect the eyes when feeding themselves or their young

When humans close their eyes to blink and sleep the upper eyelid closes. Depending on the species, raptors have eyelids that close from either the bottom or top, for blinking and sleeping.

An additional form of eye protection in most raptors is a bony shield that projects above the eye. The bony shield adds protection when raptors pursue prey into brush, protects the eyes from injury while hunting, and also gives raptors a menacing appearance.

Harriett laid her first egg April 9th. She laid her second egg April 11th;
her third egg was laid April 13th…….The gestation period is 36 to 42 days.

Does any one know how to add out there?

Well I guess not.
Projected birthdays are May 17th to May 22cd.

The eggs will hatch in the order in which they were laid.
I will tell you now; it will be a struggle for the third hatchling to survive.

The second camera is on the birdbath. There is a lot of activity there.

Camera # 1
http://northriverdeckcam.axiscam.net:9000
Camera # 2
http://northriverosprey.axiscam.net:8000

Love,

Harriett

“Oh good grief”, said Harriett.

“I thought you and your friends were up to the task. After all, it’s not that hard to become a thoughtful osprey observer”.

The Doctor was embarrassed. He tried to blame it on his poor writing skills, but Harriett would have none of it.

“Now get yourself together! Get inspired! Pull yourself up by your own boot straps. We have a lot to do. Prepare the world for The Show”.

Again, grudgingly, the Doctor is reminded of their mission.

He smarted from Harriett’s reprimand, but he knew she was right. He could not let his gift of telepathy be wasted. It is a precious gift.

“I cannot ignore it.” He reminded himself.

“I know!” he stammered towards Harriett.

The providence of nature, the destiny of the biological Classes and Orders as well as all of humanity for that fact, depends on his due diligence. The Doctor suddenly realized one again that he was a key player in the events that would direct the future course of life on earth.

I love the process of incubation.  It provides an unparalleled time of peace and reflection….. tranquility.  Of course it would not be possible without Johnathan’s protection.  Jonathan has already proved he is up to task. That does not mean I am not keeping a constant surveillance of my own environment;  as you can see, my perpetual 360 degree survey continues.  You cannot be too careful within the Nature-environment into which I have been born.

Sitting, relaxing, although with a heightened alert for danger, incubating, waiting, is exciting, satisfying, fulfilling.   There is a lot of peace and relaxation associated with a brood.  But do not get fooled.  Remember this is nature and as we have found before, nature can be cruel and unforgiving.

I sit while Jonathan patrols our area for threats.  The Doctor says my head looks as if it is a cog wheel or the second hand of an old watch.  When I get hungry Jonathan takes over the incubation to allow me to get a meal.  I’ll tell you later what great fisher-birds we are; I must say, we are quite incredible, now I must call Jonathon as I am getting hungry.

I am so sorry for the disruption of our story.

The Doctor with all good intentions pushed every wrong button you can imagine.

I really thought he was better with IT than that.

Last night I had to fly in to correct the fiasco.  It took me about an hour.  Jonathan was kind enough to sit on our egg and guard the nest while I was gone.

Anyway, the cameras are now up and running.

Love,

Harriett

“3 eggs!  I cannot believe it!” thought The Doctor.

Harriett is so proud of herself she borders on hubris.

This is the first time The Taj Mahal has hosted 3 eggs.  Either the food supply is plentiful or Harriett is that much more mature.

“Chirp, chirp, chirp,” cried Harriett.  “Look at me!”

“And don’t forget Johnathan.  Well what can I say?”

The Doctor is happy to be back into full telepathic mode.  He was worried that he was out of practice and Harriett would not communicate this year.

“Silly Doctor,” transmitted Harriett.  Do you think I could be so small-minded?”