Osprey Tales

All birds – from the tiny hummingbird to the giant albatross – have the same basic feather groupings.

There are four basic wing shapes and all birds fall into a semblance of one of the four configurations.

The size and shape of wings give clues to how the bird lives:

1. Long and wide wings are used by soaring birds such as hawks, eagles, and ravens. A wing is considered long when it exceeds the length of the bird’s body.

2. Narrow and pointed wings are used by fast flying birds such as swallows, swifts, and many migratory birds such as ducks and geese.

3. Long and narrow wings are used by gliding birds such as albatrosses, gulls, fulmars, shearwaters, and terns.

4. Wide and rounded wings are used for short, fast and quick-escape flight birds such as grouse, pheasants, pigeons, and owls.

Here are a few diagrams that most of us know from our understanding of airplane wing aerodynamics.

Birds however have 10 times the flying capacity of H. sapiens and their artificial flying machines.

“That is  because we have feathers,” Harriet could not help but sardonically drool out the obvious.

“I will tell you more about feathers in a future post”, declared Harriett.  It’s a long story, beginning 65 million years ago when we Avian’s survived the catastrophic meteor strike that devastated and eliminated the terrible lizards that dominated planet Earth at the time. It’s also time to make a few comments regarding the genus Homo and the one and only surviving species of the Genus, Homo sapiens.    If you are reading this you are most likely a Homo sapien.  Do you have any reservations or guilt feelings about your rise to dominance?

“Tell the Doctor not to stress his brain tonight, trying to understand these ethereal concepts.

Tell him to go to bed.  Tell him to get a good night’s sleep.   Tell him to tell the Female H. sapien that lives with him that he loves her.  Tell him he does not have to Save the World and Life on Planet Earth as we know it tonight.

Thank you friends.

Love Harriett

This morning at 5:56 AM, Jesse sustained himself 1-2 feet above the nest for 10-12 seconds.

“The boys are looking good,” thought the Doctor.

David and Jessie appear to be strong and healthy, right on schedule in their development.

“Those are healthy looking babies you’ve got,” thought the Doctor.

“Thank you Doctor,” Harriett thought back.

Harriet seems be over the annoyance the Doctor caused her last week.

David said, “watch this Jessie.”

David spread his wings to their full extent.

“Oh yeah!” Exclaimed Jesse.

“I can do it too.”

Jesse showed off his wing span.

“Mine is bigger than yours,” he added.

“Not!”

                                                                                        “Hey Jesse,” said David.

Pick your wings up like this. It feels great! You can feel the lift!”

Jesse began to raise his wings. Just then an unexpected gust of wind breezed in from the west. David toppled over.

Jesse laughed.

David laughed too.

The boys are having a very good time this summer, well protected by our heroes O & H, no hurricanes, no predators, plenty of food and beautiful Carolina sunshine.  It’s time to enjoy. Fall migration will be here sooner than they know.

Harriet told the Doctor she loved him. It had been a long time since she had communicated that thought. It brought tears to the Doctor’s eyes.

“I love you too Harriett,” the Doctor thought back.

The world is at peace. Nature smiles. The troubles of the world are temporarily lifted.

The highest quantities of food are brought to the nest once the nestlings are 40 days old. Ozzie is bringing up to 6 fish to the nest per day.  The first fish this morning is a lizard fish.

Look how David and Jesse aggressively go for the catch. They do not need to be fed anymore. David and Jesse can rip and tear flesh with their sharp hooked beaks as well as any osprey their age.

“Taste like pin fish,” said David.

“Taste more like mud toad to me,” replied Jesse.

The Doctor does not like The Lizard fish.   He does not like the lizard fish at all.  We’re not talking about cuisine. We are talking about aesthetics.

   
Lizardfish

The lizard fish is one ugly fish.  They are ferocious predators with needle-like teeth.  When caught by rod and reel, they always completely swallow the bate and/or lure.  If you want your lure or hook back you must go digging with your fishing knife.  The horrible little creature will snap and bite at you even after you think it is dead.

“Get ready for some action,” said the Doctor.

For those of you that have been with us for more than a year, you will remember this time last year when Tweedy, a single day from taking flight, was tossed into the sea by hurricane Arthur.

O & H’s platform was snapped in half.

It lay in the water like a wounded soldier, gasping for air, trying not to drown with the incoming tide.

If not for the heroic all night struggle to save Tweedy, he would’ve drowned. Never underestimate the will parents have to protect and save their children.

Somber but optimistic, Harriett’s H. sapien friends raised her platform. Without their effort O & H’s platform would have disintegrated and washed away, leaving no trace of their home.  Just like the Red Channel Marker 4 years ago, their home would have disappeared. Disappeared into the Avian unknown.  Ozzie remembers the experience with near panic anxiety.

Jesse and David

The boys are getting strong

Windex your glasses. See them clearly.  Wow, look at the beauty of their primary feathers. Their pure white tips are easy to recognize. You will always be able to recognize a juvenile when you see the pure white tips on their primary feathers. Both males and females exhibit this coloration. The soft, light brown, feathers, back of the neck, also promises a juvenile. Of course the orange eyes are always the dead giveaway.

O and H are very proud of David and Jesse.  Ozzie brought a flounder in last evening around 6:30 PM. Harriett no longer needs to feed them.

The two boys did what they are supposed to do. They aggressively competed with each other to eat as much flounder as possible.

“Darn good flounder,” said David.

Oddly, the 3rd egg that never hatched remains in the nest.  This has brought quite a few comments to the Doctor’s mailbox.  The Doctor has no clue as to why, and is at a loss on how to respond. So don’t ask. He doesn’t know!

Now, sit back and relax. Take two minutes out of your day and watch this video.  I do believe Jesse is sending a message. Something like, “Hey Mom. I want to fly!”

Harriett was annoyed.

“Why haven’t you eliminated that jerky movement from our pictures?” She asked the Doctor with dripping sarcasm.

Harriet has a way of striking deeply and unexpectedly into the Doctor’s sense of responsibility.  But tonight, the Doctor let her barb bounce harmlessly off his chest.

“Harriett,” said the Doctor.  “You know I’ve been working hard to make your web cam the best in the world. Don’t give me a lot of Osprey squawk about what you want, and what you don’t want. I’m working on the real-time streaming. I’ve been working on it for two weeks.  What do you think I do with my spare time?

“Play bridge!” Squeaked Harriett from malevolent umbrage.

The Doctor sat up in disbelief. He took a deep breath, paused, and counted to ten.

The Doctor recovered his composure.

“Good night Harriett,” transmitted the Doctor.

Harriett shut down her telepathy without a further thought.

The Doctor went to bed. His mind in turmoil.

“Just relax and go to sleep,” said the Female H. sapien that lives with the Doctor in his giant nest on the bank of the North River.

It sounded like the thing to do. Sleep came quickly.

He slept well last night.

To be continued……….

Five Weeks Old 

The first feathers to appear are the rusty-golden pinfeathers on the head and neck. You can see them clearly in these pictures.

Darker body feathers develop slightly later, and primaries, secondaries, and outer feathers of the wings and tail emerge at 20-25 days.

 
Another Flounder

 
Streathing wings                                                           Camouflage is still great

When Jesse looks directly into the camera, you can clearly see the characteristic orange eyes of the juvenile Osprey.  The other characteristic of the juvenile Osprey is the expanded white tip of their primary feathers. You can usually use these 2 characteristics to identify a juvenile. They persist for up to one and a half years

Note the raptor’s eyes, are situated on the front of the skull. This is for hunting. By contrast prey species like songbirds have eyes more strategically situated on the sides of their head, making them more aware of attackers.

Even with necks somewhat retracted the chicks are about 15” long now. Just last week they were only 11 1/2” long.

I hope you are enjoying our story.

Best wishes for a nice weekend.

Harriett

Summer Moon over Lenoxville Point

Young Osprey spend the first seven or eight weeks of their lives confined within their nest (Eyrie).  It is a pile of sticks lined with seaweed, bark, grass and straw .  This is the nicest and most functional nest O&H have ever built.  That’s not to say, the Taj Mahal has not added to the beauty of this year’s Eyrie.  Plus they are a year older; “practice makes perfect,” someone once said.

David and Jesse will be fed primarily by the Harriett, who tears pieces from fish that Ozzie brings.  At two weeks old the youngsters can move around the nest.   The boys are 3 weeks old today.  You cannot help but be impressed by their size and activity.

Note their eyes are open. They are aggressively pursuing food brought to the nest and their primary feathers are becoming visible. Still they have excellent camouflage.

After last week’s post, I’m sure no one doubts the importance of  camouflage.

The Doctor predicts they will be actively preening and exercising their wings within a week.