This is going to be the final web log post for this 2008 Osprey Cam season. Our osprey pair is long gone, and most of the ospreys in the Mid-Atlantic Region have begun migration. In fact, many have already finished migration and are now in Central and South America where they will spend the winter. We expect to see ospreys reappearing at Blackwater Refuge in March of 2009, and hopefully our returning parents will have better luck at the Osprey Cam in the new year.

I just updated our Eagle Cam and Osprey Cam galleries. We’ve now closed the 2008 Eagle Cam Gallery, and in the final update you’ll see some interesting shots of our parents returning to the nest to check things out. The parents aren’t there much right now, but it’s nice to see that they’re still watching over their home nest.

You can still see the Eagle Cam on our partner’s website at WildCam.com, but note that the cam is now showing a DVD recap of the 2008 Eagle Cam season (the DVD is actually playing on the monitor at the Blackwater Refuge Visitor Center, but WildCam picks up the feed on their website). So if you see images of eaglets on their cam, just remember those are images from earlier this year.

I also updated the Osprey Cam Gallery with photos that were sent before the cam went down (when the road was being worked on beneath the cam) and also photos that were sent in recently. I wanted to point out a few of the more interesting shots here.

When the bald eagles are sitting on the Osprey Cam platform, we often see them calling out, and folks wonder if they’re yelling at each other or at other birds. It’s hard to know since we can’t see what’s going on around them, but it’s likely they’re calling out to other birds that might be near the platform. Sometimes we also see them calling out after they’ve brought in a fish, to announce their catch and the fact that it belongs to them.

Cam watchers have also noticed that sometimes a fish is left uneaten in the nest, and an eagle is sometimes there watching over it. It’s possible the fish is meant to be an offering for the female, and the male is leaving it there for her.

Also, cam watchers have seen both the bald eagles and the turkey vultures holding out their wings while perched on the platform. The birds might be trying to dry their wings or expose their feathers to the sun, which can help remove parasites and help with feather repair.

We did see a couple good turkey vulture shots in this last update. Here we see what looks like a squabble between the vultures, and here we get a great close-up of a turkey vulture’s face. He probably saw his reflection in the camera lens.

Final Osprey Migration Update

Finally, I wanted to offer an update on the latest news we’ve heard about migrating ospreys that were outfitted with satellite transmitters. First, we’ll look at the Mid-Atlantic ospreys that Rob Bierregaard (from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte) tagged.

Duke was last in Panama, having crossed the Caribbean Sea, and he appears to be safe. Penelope made it to South America, and Rob is reporting that she is about 50 miles into Suriname (formerly Dutch Guiana). And Goody, Meadow, L.R, and Mittark are still up north, and haven’t made a serious move south yet.

In Scotland, we’ve been following the adventures of European ospreys as they make their way towards Africa. From the famous Loch Garten nest in Scotland, we have good news and bad news about the young siblings Nethy and Deshar. Nethy appears to be close to moving into Africa on her first migration, but Deshar appears to have been lost in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Deshar headed out on a strange course away from the mainland (possibly blown out by strong winds), and although the Loch Garten fans were hoping the young bird would find the Azores (a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean) or a ship on which to land, on September 30, the Loch Garten blog was reporting that his readings were zero altitude and zero speed, indicating that he apparently crashed into the ocean and was lost. The blog reported the last moments of Deshar as the following:

He started to show signs of movement at 9am on 26th September, he started at a course of 220 degrees at a speed of 67kph at 238m above sea level. If he had been at 210 degrees it is likely he would have hit France, I suspect the course was very much due to the weather conditions which showed quite a strong north-easterly wind on that day. He flew for 104 hours non-stop before unfortunately plunging into the North Atlantic Ocean at 17.00 on 30th September, on his 104 hour flight he covered 4,185kms (2600 miles).

At the Highland Foundation for Wildlife in Scotland, they are also following several ospreys tagged with satellite transmitters. They lost the signal for Logie, their adult female, early on and they’re not sure if something happened to her or to her transmitter. The also lost contact with Logie’s chick named Glen and another bird named Thistle, who appears to have been lost at sea. Logie’s other chick — Moray — was found dead in a ditch in September. Their blog reports the following about Moray’s condition and death:

Martin Scott emailed to say the young osprey weighed 870 grams, which is very light - he weighed 1446 grams in July and should have gained a little weight post-fledging, but his journey was very difficult in bad weather and he probably failed to catch fish sufficiently to feed himself and his weakened condition may have caused him to be hit by a vehicle. As can be seen from the map above, Moray left the nesting area in poor weather and was then subject to the vagaries of the weather, being blown in different directions by prevailing winds and migrating blindly in overcast wet and windy conditions. Unfortunately he did not find a sheltered place to rest and fish, and wait for clear weather. This shows the difficulties for migratory birds leaving Scotland when the weather is against them.

As for the good news, their young osprey Heather appears to have successfully made it to Spain, and their male adult Nimrod appears to be in France.

As we can see from these accounts, migration is a very tough business for both young ospreys and adults. Weather plays a big role in their success, as does the ability of young birds to stay safe and feed themselves on their first migration. In addition, human activities — such as shooting of raptors (especially in parts of Europe, Africa, and Central and South America) — can also play a big role in whether ospreys survive to return for another breeding season.

Having said that, some folks might naturally wonder why anyone would ever shoot a beautiful osprey. Possible reasons include: 1) for food or sport, 2) because the ospreys are taking fish from a fish farm and 3) because in some areas, all raptors are seen as a threat to domestic animals — even if they really aren’t.

So even while we enjoy watching our bald eagles on the Osprey Cam (where they can perch now that our ospreys have migrated), we still think of our ospreys, both from this year and from years past, and we hope they have found a safe place to spend their winter until they can return to us next March.

I want to thank everyone for tuning in this year, even though our osprey pair didn’t produce any young. And although the web log is closing, I will keep the gallery open, so feel free to send in your photos from the cam. If you’ve never submitted photos from the cams before, you can visit our instruction page to learn how.

Thanks again!
Lisa - webmaster
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Tags:
ospreys, eagles, wildlife refuge, osprey cam, migration, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland

First, I wanted to thank all those who might have been checking our website to see if the Osprey Cam was back up. We’re having a large amount of work done on the Wildlife Drive (which runs near our Osprey Cam) and also along a water impoundment area that is near the base of the cam. This work is required to keep the local rivers from overtaking the road and other visitor areas, so it’s necessary work, although we wish it would move along faster.

I spoke with our ranger this morning about the work near the Osprey Cam, and he said the only thing that remains to be done near the cam is putting the Osprey Cam equipment back into place so we can get the cam up. It will take a few days to do this since some of the equipment is heavy (like the solar panel) and requires a couple people to do the work, but at least it looks like the road work around the cam is done and we’re almost ready to go live.

Our ranger said that this morning he saw eagles on the Osprey Cam platform, so it’s possible our osprey parents have begun migration. Normally if an osprey couple has chicks, the mother will leave for migration first around late August, then the father will stay until his young are ready to leave (usually in September). Then once the young birds strike out for South or Central America, the father osprey will leave too. All the family members will migrate separately, although the young siblings might start out together.

Since our 2008 osprey couple did not have chicks this year, it’s likely they will both leave early, since the male does not have any chicks he has to watch over and help feed. So when our cam comes back online, our birds might be already gone.

But regardless of whether our ospreys are still at the cam or not, the fact is migration season has begun. As I write this, Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania is reporting that they’ve already seen 28 ospreys migrate overhead since August 6. Be sure to visit the Hawk Mountain website to keep tabs on the numbers during their annual Autumn Hawk Watch.

Also, several websites are tracking young ospreys on their first migration. You can visit the Nethy and Deshar website to follow the two osprey fledglings from the famous Loch Garten osprey nest in Scotland. The birds have already begun their migration to Africa, and one of the siblings (Deshar) started out by heading over the North Sea, then realized it was a mistake and turned back toward land. Fortunately he’s now back on track and about to cross the English Channel — ahead of his sister — on his way to Africa for the winter. See the migration map.

You can follow the Loch Garten birds using Google Earth, which is an amazing piece of software that Google offers for free. Visit the Google Earth page on the Loch Garten site for instructions about opening their migration map in the Google Earth software.

Also in Scotland, Logie and her chicks are being tracked on Roy Dennis’ website. At this stage they have lost track of Logie, but they’re not sure if something happened to her or if her transmitter malfunctioned.

By the way, Roy Dennis — one of the world’s leading experts on ospreys (especially from England and Scotland) — has a new book out called “A Life of Ospreys.” You can order one by emailing the address on his website; you can also get one from Amazon or from a third-party bookseller in the U.S. (look for “used and new” on the Amazon page). It’s a beautiful book, and if you love ospreys, I think you’ll definitely enjoy it.

In addition to the Scottish birds being tracked, Rob Bierregaard, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, is tracking a set of young ospreys from the East Coast of the U.S., and you can follow his tracking updates on his 2008 osprey migration web page.

As for other osprey nests, it was a bit of a tough year in some places. For those who remember me mentioning the two Finland Osprey Cams, one of the cams had an unfortunate tragedy. A white-tailed eagle (the closest cousin to our American bald eagle) came in and attacked the youngest chick. The next day it returned and took the chick away. Here is a photo of the eagle.

At the Woods Hole Osprey Cam nest in Massachusetts they also had some tragedy. A few days after Rob Bierregaard successfully tagged Sheri — one of the three fledglings at the nest — she suddenly appeared in the nest in some kind of distress. She was then found on the ground with two severely injured legs and had to be euthanized. The only guess is that while learning to dive for food, she misjudged her target and possibly hit some rocks or another hard surface.

Unfortunately even after young ospreys survive the tough competition in their home nests, they then have to face the dangers of learning to fish, learning to fly, and migrating thousands of miles to a distant land. It’s a tough world out there.

As for our nests, I did want to remind folks that for now, you can still see our Eagle Cam on the WildCam.com website (registration is free). We share our camera feed with them, and since they have a bit more money than we do, they’ve decided to keep the cam feed up for now. So be sure to check in occasionally. If you do, you might see one of our eagle parents checking in at the nest. We have no idea where the big weeds came from in the bottom of the nest, but they’ll probably be gone when we go live again in November. For now, it looks like the eagles have a little garden at their nest, which is 80 feet up in the air!

As a final treat, I did want to mention that photographer Bob Quinn was out at Blackwater Refuge earlier this month and captured some wonderful photos of our summertime wildlife. Thanks again to Bob for sharing his photos with us.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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Tags:
eagles, wildlife refuge, osprey cam, osprey cams, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland

It’s been a while since we’ve updated the blog, since the nest has been very quiet. Our pair has been at the nest on and off, as they are still defending it and bringing in new sticks. Some cam watchers might wonder why the ospreys hang around the nest when they have no chicks to raise; the reason they stay is that it’s important that they defend the nest if they hope to come back next year and use the platform for another season. If they abandoned it now, other ospreys (like an unattached male or a pair without a nest) might think it’s available and take it for their own. So our couple stays near the nest and practices their nest building.

Since we don’t have much to say about our nest, I thought I’d use this post to talk about some of the other osprey action that we’ve been monitoring. If you didn’t see my earlier post on the cam page about Bob Quinn’s recent osprey banding trip, then be sure to check out his gallery. Bob went on an osprey banding trip at Patuxent River Park in southern Maryland. The park’s osprey population has had a tough year. First, several big storms caused quite a few nest failures, and then a Great Horned Owl has been not only killing osprey chicks at the park but also killing some of the osprey mothers. In fact, while Bob was on the boat banding ospreys, his group found a dead female osprey in the water under one of the water platforms. Pretty amazing to think of an owl taking out full-grown adult ospreys.

Speaking of Bob’s photos, I did want to point out a few of his shots that were particularly interesting because they show some wonderful close-ups. In this first shot, you can see two chicks hunkered down inside the nest. Osprey young know instinctively to lay low in the nest when they hear their parents call out in alarm; this technique works well since their feathers blend in with the sticks and help camouflage them.

In this second shot, you can see a great close-up of a banded youngster (see the band on its left foot). Notice that the osprey chick has scale-like bumps on its lower legs and feet. These scales are called spicules and they help the osprey hold onto slippery fish. Also, notice that the youngster has orange eyes; the eyes will turn yellow once the bird matures. Finally notice the tan tips on its feathers, which is another sign that the bird is young. The feathers will eventually turn all brown once the bird reaches sexual maturity.

In this third shot, we get a great view of an osprey chick’s blood feathers. When feathers first develop, they are encased in a sheath that is made of keratin (like your fingernails). This sheath protects the feathers and feeds them with blood until the feathers are fully developed — hence the name blood feathers. Once the feather has developed, the sheath falls off (or is pulled off by the bird) and the feather unfurls. In this photo, we can see the blood (the blue color) feeding the developing feathers. Anyone handling a bird with blood feathers must be careful, because if one of them tears, the feather can bleed quite a lot.

In this fourth shot, we see a mother osprey skimming the water with her talons to cool down; this is a behavior that is common during the summer. In fact, on June 11, the Connecticut Audubon Osprey Cam reported similar behavior by their osprey adults. Their website said, “With the intense heat of the last several days, the adults have been using their bodies as an umbrella to shield the four chicks from the sun. We’ve also seen the adults skimming the surface of the water to wet their breast feathers and return to the nest to cool the chicks down.” It’s interesting to see how the adult ospreys use water to help keep themselves and their chicks cool.

And in this final shot, we see a wonderful example of the osprey’s third eyelid — or nictitating membrane. The ospreys use these translucent eyelids to clean their eyes and to protect them from harm — such as while fishing or feeding their young.

In addition to Bob’s incredible osprey shots, I also have a couple osprey tales to share. First, the Marine Study Nature Area in New York has an online Osprey Cam where they have four healthy chicks. Unfortunately, the youngest chick got entangled in a discarded balloon ribbon and a rescue had to be arranged, which you can see on YouTube. The Marine Study Nature Area website also links to a BBC article on the dangers of balloons in the environment. Be sure to read about the need to eliminate discarded balloons for the sake of wildlife.

Another interesting osprey story happened a couple weeks ago at an osprey nest in St. Michael’s Harbor in Maryland, where the nest fell into the water. Fortunately, some of the workers at the nearby Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum saw it happen and managed to get to the chick immediately. They took care of it overnight and then it was transported to Tri-State Bird Rescue by Suzi Feldhuhn, a friend of ours who is a volunteer at Tri-State. On the following Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to renest the single chick in a neighboring nest that already had two chicks. Suzi told us it was a very successful renesting with the chick being accepted by its new family. As for the original pair that lost their nest, they’re in the area and are building a new nest on a nearby platform.

Suzi was kind enough to send us the two photos below showing the chick being placed in its new nest and then sitting with its new siblings. Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.

Many osprey nests around the Net are starting to see young birds fledging. As we mentioned on the cam page, the chicks at the North Carolina Osprey Cam and Kentucky Osprey Cam have begun to fledge, and the four chicks at the Connecticut Osprey Cam are also close to going. Here is a great shot showing one of them hovering above the nest. We wish all these young birds the best of luck as they begin venturing out into the world.

Partial Closure of Wildlife Drive

As a final note, for those cam watchers who might be planning a trip to Blackwater Refuge this summer, I wanted to remind you that a portion of the Wildlife Drive at the Refuge will be closed for about two months while we repair an impoundment that protects the Drive from the Blackwater River. Only the first section of the Drive will be closed, so you will still be able to access the latter section of the road. Also, while we have the road closed, we also plan to repair our Marsh Edge Trail boardwalk, so hopefully by the time all the work is done, we’ll have an improved trail and Wildlife Drive. Read our press release for more information about what services will be available if you come.

Thanks again to all those who are sending in cam images to our galleries. We don’t update the galleries as often these days because the action is slow, but we will update them soon and we appreciate any images of interesting action that you see.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

Tags:
wildlife refuge, ospreys, osprey cam, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland