Osprey Tales

Learning to fly is the next important step for Tweedy.

After that comes mastering sophisticated fishing skills.

Until Tweedy learns to fish successfully, she will continue to rely on her parents for food.

On average, osprey fledglings make their first flight on week seven or eight of life.

I know the Doctor has sent you a couple video clips showing Tweedy flapping her wings. Here is another.

I do not remember Riki being so strong at five weeks and two days.

By the way, the Doctor thinks he has found a way to make these video clips not present as stretched to wide or squeezed too thin. It is just another IT problem he is having. Wish him luck.

The sun burns its way through a light mist. The purples martins seem unusually active. There is a steady northeast breeze at 5 mph and my friend Magic is showing off for Tweedy.

It is going to be a beautiful day on the North River.

Over at the big nest I heard the Doctor grumble. Marley forgot it was the weekend and began his wake up duty. Once he gets started, Marley faithfully finishes the job he has started. Good boy Marley.

“I’m glad you spoke to her”, said Harriett. You may think she was not listening, but just hearing it from you makes a difference”.

Ozzie was not so sure.

“Did you tell her about her reversible talons?

Ozzie continued rearranging the nest with speaking

“No matter, she’ll figure it out quickly” Harriett chirped.

The Osprey’s talons are specially adapted to allow one of its three front toes to bend backwards so that there are two claws pointing forward and two in reverse on each foot. No other bird of prey has this ability. It helps secure a good grip on a slippery fish. In addition osprey have sharp spicules on the underside of the toes, and backwards-facing scales on the talons which act as barbs to help hold its catch.

“Why are we talking about fishing when she can’t even fly yet”? Ozzie interrupted.

“Take it easy”, reassured Harriett. “I believe Tweedy will be flying by the end of the week”. You saw her flapping her wings yesterday. I think she is doing very well. In fact I think she is advanced for her age”.

All mothers say that”’ thought Ozzie.

Early this morning Harriett took off to do a little fishing herself. Make no mistake, Ozzie is a fisher-bird extraordinaire and has supplied his family with more than enough fish at any and all times.

Harriett was not hungry, but she was in the mood for speckled trout, so she set off to try her luck.

Harriett snags a trout

Back at the nest, Ozzie pulled Tweedy aside.

“Listen, Tweedy”, he said.

Tweedy approached Ozzie with self-confidence and a smile.

“The world out there is not easy. Nature can be harsh and cruel. I just want you to know that your Mom and I are trying our best to prepare you for what is about to come”.

Tweedy, looked annoyingly at her father, just as human teenage females do in such situations.

“What do you think Mom and I have been talking about for the past three weeks”, Tweedy thought, trying not to show her derisive attitude.

Ozzie recognized Tweedy’s posture. What parent would not?

“I’m just telling you that in the next three weeks you must be able to fly, fish, learn to protect yourself and be prepared to migrate 2000 plus miles south”.

Tweedy was polite to her father, despite her perceived lack of insight and judgment into matters of life that poor old Dad did not possess.

Ozzie returned to his nest maintenance with nothing else to say; except a prayer for his daughter.

Nestling
            

Nestling – A young, recently hatched osprey that has not yet grown flight feathers and is unable to fly. Nestlings are entirely dependent on their parents for food and protection.

Fledgling

As osprey mature and begin to grow their adult flight feathers, they are no longer called nestlings and instead are referred to as fledglings.

        
(Note the eye color)

Fledgling – A young osprey that has grown enough to acquire its initial flight feathers and is preparing to leave the nest. Young birds that have left the nest but do not yet have all their adult plumage and are still fed by the parent birds are also referred to as fledglings.

Fledgling plumage is most visible on a bird’s wings and tail, where the flight feathers will appear much shorter than an adult’s feathers. Fledglings are capable of flying but are inexperienced and may seem reluctant to fly or may show difficulty with takeoffs, landings or distance flight. As the feathers continue to grow, the birds will gain more flying skill and their plumage will become indistinguishable from adult birds.

Week # 5

O&H cannot be more proud; proud but responsible parents.

The danger for Tweedy has just begun. Studies show that only 50% of raptors survive their first year after fledging. Migration is risky business. In just a few weeks Tweedy must be prepared for the dangerous and grueling migration to South America. It’s well over 1000 miles.

.

I couldn’t help but send you this video, before the Doctor gets home. He leaves the office window in his big nest open for me at night. I’m sure he will be excited when he sees it.

Did the Doctor’s “Link” work?

Go to https://ospreytales.wordpress.com/ .
You can “subscribe by e-mail” on the right side of page.

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

The Doctor wants to cover the development of Tweedy from her birth to her migration south” repeated Harriett.

“Can he do it”? Asks she, as if challenging the faith and loyalty of the Doctor’s friends.

“I have a question for the faithful”, she continued.

“Who remembers the experiences of Riki, my first born, during his first 18 months of life”?

Silence released the discomfort she knew all her readers politely harbored.

There was a long uneasy quiet, just as she expected.

Unperturbed, Harriett announced, “I am going to ask the Doctor if he can create a “link” to the past”. “It will give him something to do this weekend”.

“Meanwhile I will prepare the information that all humans should know regarding birth, growth, development and maturation of the our species”. Without such basic knowledge, our goal of Saving the World or at least Life on Planet Earth will be impossible.

The Doctor said to try this:

“Link” to Good Bye Riki.

“Hello Tweedy. Good morning Harriett. Hello Ozzie”, the Doctor perfunctorily addresses us this morning, as if saying good morning to his office staff in a half awake sleep-fog.

“I really don’t like this tone of telepathy”, thought Harriett.

“Aren’t you being a little hard on him”, came back the Doctor’s Guardian Angel.

My good friend, the Doctor continued, “What’s going on up there”?

The Doctor’s pantomimed sincerity made me think of Mr. Obama’s show of confidence in his foreign policy.

Harriett threw up.

“It’s been 33 days”……..the Doctor casually remarked.

His sarcastic inference was so obvious, I had to wonder about his sixth sense.

“He thinks he knows so much”, Harriett continued her thought process.

The Doctor continued with his unintentional stupidity.

“My books say…………………….”

Stop!

The Doctor wants to cover the development of osprey chicks from birth to adolescence, growth, maturation, leaving the nest, flying and fending for themselves.

He realizes the task may be too much for him, so forgive him for any statements he makes that I may have to correct later.

Be compassionate and/or empathetic, what ever may be your case.

 
But wait! This may be one of those rare times when the Doctor magnificently raises to the occasion. Like the time he built the nest platform for us, or back in 2012 when he helped me get home after that horrible experience in Havana, or when he rescued Ozzie from a sure death at sea last year. Let us wait and see.

Harriett

The Doctor is ecstatic. He has been asked to talk to Mrs. Asbell’s kindergarten class about us.

“Osprey Day” they call it, and the Doctor is a special guest.

I coached him to think like a kid, be like a kid, and by all means make it interesting for a kid.

“I will”, promised my significant other and best friend.

Harriett sent the Doctor off with love and warmth in her heart

The classroom was chaotic and full of excitement. A respectful hush floated across the room as the Doctor entered.

“Boys and Girls this is……” Mrs. Asbell began, but no introduction was necessary.

“How old is Tweedy? Do you like her name? When will she fly? Does she like fish? Does Harriett snuggle with her? Can she read yet? What color are Tweedy’s eyes?”

“What color are Tweedy’s eyes?”

The Doctor thought about this for a moment.

“What color are Tweedy’s eyes”? Rhetorically, he repeated the question to himself out loud.

He was not sure how to answer this question and paused for a moment to collect his thoughts.

“What color are your eyes”? The Doctor began.

“Blue, green, brown”, rebounded a chorus of responses.

“And what color do you think Tweedy’s eyes are”? The doctor continued with confidence.

“Blue, green, red, purple, yellow, orange, black, brown, pink, magenta!”

Did a five year old human just say “magenta”? He thought to himself.

“Well…..continued the Doctor, eye color in the osprey is a very interesting subject”.

The children hung on every word.

Elated and emboldened the Doctor began as he slipped into a semi-hypnoptic state.

“Eye color is a polygenic phenotypic character determined by two distinct factors: the pigmentation of the eye’s iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris”.

“What”? Said little Jimmy.

“The brightly colored eyes of many bird species result from the presence of other pigments, such as pteridines, purines, and carotenoids”, continured the Doctor happily.

Little Jeanie saw a cardinal out the classroom window. She pointed it out to Jimmy.

“Humans and other animals have many phenotypic variations in eye color. The genetics of eye color are complicated, and color is determined by multiple genes. So far, as many as 15 genes have been associated with eye color inheritance”, continued my oblivious soul mate.

Dumbfounded and disappointed the children stared at the Doctor in disbelief.

My man drooled on……….

“Some of the eye-color genes include OCA2 and HERC2. The once-held view that blue eye color is a simple recessive trait has been shown to be incorrect. The genetics of eye color are so complex that almost any parent-child combination of eye colors can occur. However, OCA2 gene polymorphism, close to proximal 5′ regulatory region, explains most human eye-color variation”.

“This is boring”! Cried out a pretty little girl named Molly. “Really, really boring”.

Mrs. Asbell looked distraught.

I tried frantically to get through to him, but he was so self-absorbed in his new role as Kindergarten teacher he would not respond.

Finally Mrs. Asbell announced, “bathroom break”.

A flurry of activity erupted and suddenly the classroom was quiet.

Mrs. Asbell did not know what to say, but just then I got through to him.

What the #$%! Are you doing!

(Sometimes you have to be very frank with the Doctor).
Hey, look osprey dignity is at stake here.

“What do you mean”? Asked the Doctor incredulously.

“Think like a child! Talk like a child! Act like a child! You dumb #*%*!”!

The Doctor’s attention had been caught.

“Wow, I’ve never felt Harriett so upset. Maybe I should turn down the sensitivity on my telepathy”.

Bathroom break was over.

“Where is the Doctor?” A convergence of thought created by the children inquired.

Nowhere is he to be seen.

Mrs. Asbell zipped up little Mark’s pants. At least he did not need to be wiped anymore, and kidergarten continued as though there had been no disruption. Little Molly was about to discuss various Princesses from the 13th century when the Doctor reentered the classrom dressed like this:

It was the best he could do impromptu.

“Now let’s get serious”, said he.

In many birds of prey, the eye color changes as the bird matures and can serve as a means of determining an individual’s age. Adult ospreys have brilliant yellow eyes, but they are not born with this color eye. The osprey’s eye color changes from blood red in nestlings to orange-yellow in juveniles to yellow in adults.

Ospreys, when they hatch, have dark blue eyes. After a few days, the eye color starts to change to a deep reddish-orange color and they then remain like this for their migration to South America. When ospreys return north to breed at the age of two or three however, the eyes are suddenly a bright yellow color!

Now for your test:

I will show you pictures of an osprey. You tell me if it is a baby or a teenager or an adult.

Ready?  OK.

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

End of test

Here I am feeding Tweedy. Look at the nice bracelets the Doctor has given me.

There was a powerful flapping sound from out side the school house window. The children ran for cover.

Look what just flew in the window!

The Doctor awoke with a start.

This whole episode has been a dream. Everyone knows school is out for the summer.

Whew! “Thought the Doctor.  No embarrassment to carry”.

But……….
 
“Did I really give Harriett a bracelet?  I hope she doesn’t read anything into it”.

Amen

It’s been four weeks since you were born.  The Heavens seem happy. All is well.

I’m not just bragging because Tweedy is my daughter, but Tweedy is growing much faster and is a lot more mature that Riki was at 4 weeks of age last year.

Just look at her!  Tweedy is so very active, so much so that Ozzie has had to build the borders of the nest higher.  She looks around in anticipation of Ozzies’ arrival with food.  Tweedy is stretching her wings, beginning to show feathers and practically grabbing food from me when it arrives.

My Tweedy is one heck of an Osprey!

Proud Mom,

Harriett

Chinese hamster

The Chinese hamster (Cricetulus griseus), is a species of hamster originating from the deserts of northern China and Mongolia.

It is unique only in that it is the only natural predator of the gremlin. The life span of a gremlin, on average is 100 years. Chinese hamsters live two to three years on average.

The Chinese hamster kills a gremlin with its midnight black, death delivering eyes. Once the two make eye contact, their vision and minds lock into an inescapable death grip. Once transfixed, the gremlin has no chance; it cannot look away. Much the way a bulldog wins its fights by tenaciously clamping its jaws on its adversary’s neck ands never letting go.

The mechanism of action is not fully understood, but the prevailing theory is this:

The reflection of the gremlins malicious deeds in totality, compacted and focused into a single thought wave, is returned from the hamster’s pearly black eyes and produces an unresolvable moral and/or ethical dichotomy that cannot be reconciled. The gremlin’s relatively advanced cerebral cortex cannot process this conflict, becomes confused, disoriented and its memory begins to be rapidly erased.

In a desperate attempt to save itself, the gremlin’s brain passes the conflict to the temporal lobes only to cause deafness, blindness and an inability to vocalize. Sometimes there is a brief seizure before the problem is pass onto the brainstem where breathing stops and there is no support for BP or cardiac function.

The entire process takes 5 to 8 minutes.

This uniqueness of the Chinese hamster is known only to a few select scientist. All of whom live in the West.

I can tell you no more. The rest is classified as Top Secret. I will however let you know what the Doctor is up to, if I can count on your discretion.

Trustfully,
Harriett