Osprey Tales

“Well, I guess I need to address what everyone is thinking. Not only thinking but asking, or rather demanding, to know what has become of Ozzie.

“Ozzie has perished. There really isn’t any other way to put it. Several of you have realized it on your own.

Nature is Nature.

We Osprey face many perils as we travel between breeding and wintering grounds each year.

The Doctor’s backyard

Go to Google, Bing or Yahoo and type in “Osprey Tales”.

Click on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett”.

Click on “Subscribe by E-mail”.

The Cameras are just below “Subscribe by E-mail”.

Bookmark this page and check it from time to time.

The Story is about to begin.

Harriett Raptor 8-year-old mother of five, lifelong mate Ozzie Raptor until he perished last year.  Fluent in telepathy with The Doctor and possessor of epigenetic memory. She is an intellectual, a scholar, philosopher and thinker; a wise, learned osprey especially distinguished for her expertise on the H. sapien problem.

Hello friends, both old and new. No doubt you have noticed spring is here, no matter what that groundhog had to say.  I’m heading home. Can’t wait to see you. The doctor and his friends have remodeled the Taj Mahal; I can’t wait to see it. I’ll have to tell you about Ozzie later. I’m still in a state of grief but with Jonathan’s help I feel I will be all right. Sorry about last season; ie,no eggs, but Jonathan is very young and I was in a state of bereavement.

I feel both physically and psychologically healthy now. I can’t wait to get home to see you all.

Love Harriett

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore –
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door –
“‘Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door –
Only this and nothing more.”

Hello Mr. bluebird,
It’s very nice of you,
to grace my yard with beauty,
And that of your lady too.

Several years ago, before The Doctor and I developed our unique form of telepathy, he would leave his office window open so I could use his keyboard.

At the time the female H. sapiens that lives with The Doctor was unaware of our arrangement. Fortunately she is a sound sleeper and never did pick up upon it.

Now, I’m not bragging but, I can hunt and peck, and click and shift, backspace and delete, and click, click, tab, #, punctuate, back click, forward click and Ctrl-Alt- Del with the best of them. I know what you’re thinking. You only have four talons, but I can pic/peck with my beak faster than you can blink your eyes.

Well, as some of you know, The Doctor has a bad knee which is taking him away from his obligatory osprey reporting. To compensate, he has left his office window open; so I will be communicating directly with you.

A few facts:

Age at first breeding: 3-5 years

On average, the period from first mating to egg laying is:
1st Egg 16 days
2nd Egg 19 days
3rd Egg 22 days
Number of eggs: Usually 3
Size of eggs (mm): 62 x 46

Incubation period: 35-42 days

Fledging period: 53 days

I hope to lay my first egg this week.  Keep a look out!  And thanks for reading.

Harriett O. Raptor

Camera # 1

http://northriverdeckcam.axiscam.net:9000/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=686

Camera # 2

http://northriverosprey.axiscam.net:8000/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=221

Doctor’s Platform

North River Carteret Co.  NC

Latitude: 34.7286515079363

Longitude:             -76.6212389981747

hc.merrick@vitalsignsnc.com

Adult male Ospreys arrive at their nesting sites a few days before the females.  Together they build or rebuild their nest from last year.  After a brief courtship,  the female settles into her nest and continues to make it comfortable.  If all goes well, eggs are laid.  There will be only one brood each year.

Incubation
Incubation begins when the first egg is laid.  Subsequent eggs are laid one to three days apart; clutches have 2-4 eggs.  The female usually takes on most of the responsibility of incubation, seldom leaving except to feed. The male then takes over incubation until her return. Incubation takes from 34 –  40 days.

Nestling Period
50–55 days
The first chick to hatch has an advantage over the siblings which hatch a day or two later.  The first chick grows quickly and can dominate the nest.  In years when the food supply is low, the dominant first chick can usurp the available food supply to the peril of the smaller siblings. This insures that at least one of the year’s brood might survive. The chicks are brooded by the female for approximately ten days. The young are too large to fit under her by this time.  She will continue to protect them by covering the young with her wing.

Condition at Hatching
Capable of limited motion. Covered with down and with eyes open.

Division of Labor
The male, dedicated to providing for his family, does all of the hunting until the chicks are six weeks old.  The male delivers the fish to the female on the nest who tears off pieces to feed to the young. At three to four weeks of age the chicks start to exercise their wings by holding onto the edge of the nest and flapping their wings. Mom then moves to a near by perch to guard the nest.  The female may leave the nest to hunt when the chicks are six weeks old. The young start to feed themselves at this time.

Fledging
At seven to eight weeks of age the young will take their first flight. They spend their days practicing flying and perching near the male’s feeding perch calling when the male returns with food.  Two weeks after fledging the young will start to follow the male on hunting trips.  Four to eight weeks after fledging the young Osprey will start to emulate their parents and begin to hunt fish on their own.

Camera # 1
http://northriverdeckcam.axiscam.net:9000/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=686

Camera # 2
http://northriverosprey.axiscam.net:8000/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=221

Thanks for Reading

Harriett O. Raptor
Doctor’s Platform
North River Carteret Co.  NC
Latitude:                34.7286515079363
Longitude:             -76.6212389981747
hc.merrick@vitalsignsnc.com

“Wow! Where did this cold weather come from? And the wind! Hey, it’s blowing 12-14 miles per hour here at the Taj Mahal. If you’re watching the camera, you can see we’re hunkered down. See how we always face directly into the wind; our bodies are like a wind vane. Notice the platform is moving a bit too. But the nest is just as secure as it can be. I give Ozzie the credit for bringing such perfect sticks with which I can work. Ozzie is sweet. He gives me credit for constructing the perfect nest.”

The Doctor’s first platform

Ospreys have traditionally nested in the bare branches of dead trees. Typical nest sites are dead or relatively open live trees, in or within a few kilometers of open water.

Regarding dead trees, ospreys have a penchant for tall trees devoid of their upper branches. They settle on top of the exposed trunk, giving them 360 degrees of visibility.

Channel markers are favorite osprey nesting sites.

Any place, high, safe, with a wide field of vision and plenty of fish will do:

Camera # 1

http://northriverdeckcam.axiscam.net:9000/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=686

Camera # 2

http://northriverosprey.axiscam.net:8000/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=221

Harriett O. Raptor

Doctor’s Platform

North River Carteret Co.  NC

Latitude:                34.7286515079363

Longitude:             -76.6212389981747

hc.merrick@vitalsignsnc.com

http://northriverdeckcam.axiscam.net:9000/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=686

http://northriverosprey.axiscam.net:8000/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=221

“Can you believe how quickly we constructed our nest this year? We had the foundation, structure and shape completed within 10 days! Ozzie and I sure know how to build a nest. This comes from several years of practice. You may remember our first few attempts. :-). We sure have come a long way since then. Today, as you can see we have started putting in some soft grass and seaweed. Ozzie really seems intent to give justice to the Taj Mahal.”

Ospreys require nest sites in open surroundings for easy approach, with a wide, sturdy base and safety from ground predators (such as raccoons). Nests are usually built on snags, treetops, or crotches between large branches and trunks; on cliffs or human-built platforms. Usually the male finds the site before the female arrives.
Osprey nests are built of sticks and lined with bark, sod, grasses, vines, algae, or flotsam and jetsam. The male usually fetches most of the nesting material—sometimes breaking dead sticks off nearby trees as he flies past—and the female arranges it. Nests on artificial platforms, especially in a pair’s first season, are relatively small—less than 2.5 feet in diameter and 3–6 inches deep.

Wow! I don’t know what has gotten into Ozzie this year. He is acting a bit strange. Just think about it. He arrives three weeks early; he is obviously glad to see me, puts on a lack luster Sky dance, then practically has our nest built in a week. And it’s not even April!

And good grief, the kisses. Those fabulous cloacal kisses. He is all over me. Not that I mind; he is really good at it, and I can’t help admitting that I like it. But for goodness sake, enough is enough! If I’m not fertile now, the cow never jumped over the moon.