June 01, 2004
Chick Development
Nest Update: Currently, the osprey parents have two healthy chicks. Unfortunately the third chick did not survive. It's unlikely we'll ever know the cause of death. During the day on Saturday, he appeared to be alert and hanging out with the group, albeit at the back of the threesome. On Sunday morning at 8:42 am he's seen with the group again, but two hours later at 10:34 am he is off by himself and not moving. Based on the photos, it appears he never moved from this position again, and on a couple occasions the mother osprey is seen examining something in the area where he was last seen. It is likely that in time she will dispose of the body.
We're sad the third chick didn't make it. Unfortunately, a chick born a couple days later than his siblings definitely puts him at a disadvantage.
Pic of the Week: In honor of the third chick, we're going to give Janet Moore the Pic of the Week for her nice family shot showing the third chick looking skyward.
And thanks to all those who have been sending in their photos and helping us note these important moments. Our Gallery is growing into an excellent record of the nest happenings in 2004.
Technical Note: When the cam begins operation again, our online hours will be extended to 3:00 am - 11:00 pm EDT. Cam watchers might be wondering why we don't run the cam the entire night -- it's because of our bandwidth limit. We can only send so many cam images over our satellite connection, so shutting it down at night keeps us under our bandwidth limit. We will try these extended hours for now, and if we remain under our limit we might extend them further.
Chick Development:
The chicks are already showing signs of growth, so what can we expect to see over the next month?
The buff-colored plumage that the chicks were born with will be replaced with a dense, wooly down when they are about 10-12 days old. Osprey expert Alan Poole calls the wooly period their "reptilian stage," when "they are black, scaly, and often crouch at danger, reminiscent of their reptilian ancestors." This second down covering will last another 10-15 days. If you visit the osprey slide show posted by the Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River you can see the reptilian stage up close.
At about 2 weeks old, feathers will begin to replace the down. According to Poole, "First to appear are rusty-golden pinfeathers on the head and neck. Darker body feathers follow slightly later, and primaries, secondaries and rectrices (outer feathers of the wing and tail) emerge at about 20-25 days." When the chicks are about 30 days old, their growth will begin to slow and they will already be at about 70-80% their full-grown body weight.
The fledging stage (when they begin to fly), won't happen until they're about 65 days old, but the weeks before they leave the nest will be an exciting time as we will get to see the chicks exercising their wings in the nest.
Animated Feeding Sequence:
And on a final note, we have something special for the web log this week. Cam watcher Norman Porter has sent in an animated chick-feeding sequence that he created using individual shots from our cam. Click below to open and play the animated GIF. It will play slowly at first, then once it is fully loaded it will play at the animated speed. Much thanks to Norm for sharing this with us.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster (contact)
Submitted by Janet Moore