June 07, 2004
Patuxent River Ospreys
Nest Update: The chicks are doing well and seem to be growing by the day. Our night hours have been extended and they offer some nice moments, although the birds are obviously not as active then. Anyone watching in the evenings might be wondering about those white strings crossing over the cam lens -- those are spider webs created by our visiting spider.
Also we had a cam watcher ask about the weather and its impact on the chicks. Blackwater Refuge is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and average temperatures and precipitation during the osprey nesting season can be seen in the chart below.
Up until about a week ago, we had been having a warmer-than-normal spring, and you could occasionally see the mother osprey sitting on the eggs with her mouth open while she was panting (to cool herself); however, our temperatures are back to normal now.
Cold and wet conditions are the most problematic for young ospreys, and many biologists have reported that nests are less successful in that kind of weather because mother ospreys find it hard to keep the chicks warm and father ospreys find it more difficult to fish (read about our nest stats from last spring). Although we did have heavy rains at the Refuge this past Friday and Saturday, overall this spring has been dryer and warmer than average up to this point.
Cambridge, Maryland (average over last thirty years)
| Mar. | 46 °F | 3.9 inches precip. | |||
| Apr. | 55.2 °F | 3.3 inches precip. | |||
| May | 64.9 °F | 4.1 inches precip. | |||
| June | 73.6 °F | 3.5 inches precip. | |||
| July | 77.6 °F | 4.4 inches precip. | |||
| Aug. | 76.3 °F | 4.5 inches precip. |
Pic of the Week: Our Pic of the Week goes to Nancy H. who sent in a nice pair of photos showing the mother osprey once again using nesting material to cover and uncover the chicks (as you may recall, in the past the mother osprey used sod to cover and uncover the eggs).
In the last couple days, we've also seen some pics showing that the chicks' reptilian stage has begun. The chicks are beginning to look darker in color.
Much thanks to everyone for sending in their photos this week, and be sure to check out the Gallery to see more cute chick shots.
Patuxent River Ospreys:
In celebration of the osprey family's two healthy chicks, we're posting something special this week: osprey wallpaper courtesy of the U.S. Navy.
The wallpaper photograph shown below was taken by James Darcy, who works in the Public Affairs office at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland (Patuxent River is a major Maryland river that empties into the Chesapeake Bay). Jamie photographed the ospreys for an article that recently appeared in the Navy's environmental publication Currents.
The article was titled "Keeping Tabs on Ospreys: Pax River Bands Species to Study Health and Habits," and tells how members of the U.S. Navy at the Patuxent Naval Air Station helped a Maryland naturalist continue his 30-year project of banding ospreys on the Patuxent River in order to learn more about the birds and their migration habits.
The article includes a lot of interesting information about ospreys in the Chesapeake Bay area and also features some amazing osprey photography. You can read the article by clicking on the cover image to the right -- it's a 1.4 MB PDF file (you'll need the Adobe Reader to open it).
As for Jamie's outstanding photo, we're offering two resolution sizes below. Follow the instructions to make it your desktop wallpaper. And a few things to notice in this photograph:
- the mother osprey is banded on her right foot (probably banded as a youngster on the Patuxent River)
- the chicks have assumed the defensive crouching position (most likely in reaction to the mother's warning call as the banders approached)
- and the chicks' eyes are red -- a color that will change into the adult yellow once they get older
| 800x600 | 1024x768 |
For PC: Click on the link for your resolution. When the image finishes loading, right-click on it and choose "Set As Background" from the pop-up menu.
For Mac: Click on the link for your resolution. When the image finishes loading, click and drag the image to your desktop. Next from the apple menu select Control Panel then select Appearance. Finally, select Desktop, select Add Picture, select the image you just dragged to your desktop, click Set Desktop.
And much thanks to Jamie for sending us a high-quality digital copy of his wonderful photograph.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster (contact)
Submitted by Nancy H.