Our live camera is placed on a tall platform, which is located in front of the Blackwater River. From this land platform we have watched osprey parents raise a total of six chicks during the last four years.

In 2005, the Friends of Blackwater also started a live Eagle Cam, where we have watched three bald eaglets grow and prosper.

The Friends of Blackwater feel privileged to be able to bring our cam watchers such wonderful sights as raptors raising their young in the wild. We hope to continue doing so into the forseeable future.

If you are just joining us, this is the 2004 Osprey Cam Web Log. Feel free to read the archives and discover what we saw in 2004 when the osprey pair raised two healthy chicks.

You can also visit our 2005 Osprey Cam Web Log where we are following a new osprey pair on our riverside platform.

Thank you for visiting,
Lisa - webmaster

Pic of the Week: As this is our last Web Log for the year, our Pic of the Week goes to Annette Salamone who turned in one of the last family shots taken. This pic was taken a few weeks ago and is our tribute to the 2004 family.

Also, Lori Hulsey turned in an interesting pic showing a young osprey standing on one leg. Ornithologists believe that ospreys tuck one leg up so they can conserve heat and dry off the leg.

Final Thoughts for the 2004 Web Log

The 2004 Web Log is ending with this installment; however, we will continue to operate the cam while the ospreys are here and also after they migrate, so that cam watchers can observe the other animals that visit the platform (such as the bald eagles). We'll also keep the Gallery open as long as the cam is running, so you can still send in your photos.

Learning More

Once the ospreys migrate, you might find yourself going into "osprey withdrawal," so here are some places to find out more about ospreys.

If you want to see ospreys in action, I highly recommend a short video clip from a nature documentary website based in Finland. Ospreys enjoy good success in Finland, and the filmmakers captured some amazing footage of ospreys -- both inside the nest and out. The clip is offered in low and high quality versions on their website; I suggest viewing the 3MB one. When you're watching it, be sure to note that during the chick-feeding sequence, one nestling is just coming out of his egg in the background -- a remarkable shot.

If you'd like to read more about ospreys, there are several excellent books that have been published over the years. The most authoritative book about ospreys is Alan Poole's Ospreys: A Natural and Unnatural History. Unfortunately this book is out of print, so it tends to be expensive and hard to find, but you can sometimes locate copies using Bibliofind or Fetch. Many experts consider this book the bible of ospreys.

If you'd like to read a less scientific, but no less engaging, osprey book, David Gessner's Return of the Osprey: A Season of Flight and Wonder is an entertaining look at one osprey breeding season around Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The author provides both a humorous and touching look at several osprey families and their trials and tribulations. The Boston Globe named the book one of the "Top Ten Nonfiction Books" of 2001. Interestingly enough, in the book David Gessner develops a friendship with osprey expert Alan Poole, who lived near the author.

Helping Ospreys

As we end the Web Log, it seems like a good time to also mention a few ways that each of us can help ospreys to prosper. If you live near water, one of the most important ways you can help is by disposing of litter properly. During annual osprey surveys, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists have noticed that many osprey nests contain harmful manmade materials such as fishing lines, hooks, and six-pack yokes, which are items that have been known to hurt ospreys -- entangling their legs, beaks and wings, or even strangling the young. So be sure to dispose of fishing material properly; retrieve broken lines, lures, and hooks from the water; and be sure to cut open the circles on plastic six-pack yokes before throwing them in the trash. (View the "Fishing Line Can Kill" PDF - 630KB)

Another way to help ospreys is by exercising caution when approaching an osprey nest. Some ospreys are less accustomed to people, so ornithologists urge humans to keep a safe distance. If the osprey parents are agitated and calling out, it means you're too close. Human disturbances can make osprey parents spend too much time off their nests, leaving the chicks vulnerable to starvation, predation, and exposure.

Finally, if you live near osprey-friendly waters, you might want to consider building an osprey platform. Artificial platforms are very popular with ospreys and can offer years of entertaining bird watching. See our previous log entry to learn how you can build a platform on your property.

Helping Blackwater Refuge

The Osprey Cam is run by the Friends of Blackwater, which is one of over 200 "friends" groups working to support national wildlife refuges throughout America. The Friends have been helping Blackwater since 1987, and we currently have a membership of over 800 individuals and organizations. Last year the Blackwater volunteers contributed the equivalent of 7.5 full-time employees to projects at Blackwater Refuge, and in 2003 our group was honored as the "Friends Group of the Year." In addition to projects like the Osprey Cam, other Friends efforts have included creating three kayak/canoe trails at Blackwater, working on two new land trails, and running the Visitor Center gift store, where all our sale proceeds go back to the Refuge. Because we operate only with volunteers, in 2003 we were able to dedicate almost 94% of all our income to Refuge projects, which often lack funding due to federal budget constraints. If you'd like information about becoming a member or supporting our efforts, please visit the Friends section of our website.

Webmaster's Final Thoughts

As webmaster, I hope both our Osprey Cam and Web Log have helped visitors gain a deeper appreciation for the beauty and complexity of the osprey and its world. Animal cams are valuable because they provide a unique window into the daily challenges that all animals must face as they struggle to survive.

As humans, our relationship with the natural world is a complex one. Sometimes we need reminding that although we're the most dominate species, we are not alone, and we must share the earth with other forms of life -- living beings that have a right to live and prosper just as we do. We protect places like Blackwater Refuge because it is one way to ensure that ospreys -- and many other animals -- have a place of their own, where they can go about the business of life.

Thank you for joining us on our 2004 osprey adventure. And a big "thanks" goes out to all who contributed their photos and thoughts over the last few months; you made this cam season, and our amazing Gallery, a great success.

We hope you'll return with the ospreys again next year. :-)

Until then,
Lisa - webmaster (contact)

A cam watcher also asked about the wing-spreading behavior. Like many animals, ospreys will often try to make themselves look bigger and more menacing by raising up their feathers or by spreading out their wings when a possible enemy is sighted.

Pic of the Week: Our Pic of the Week goes to Lynne who sent in the first photo that seems to indicate that at least one of the young ospreys is doing its own fishing. We also had some photos sent in showing crows and red-winged blackbirds coming to the nest while the osprey family was away. Kathy R sent in a photo of a male red-winged blackbird, which is one of the more handsome and frequently seen birds at Blackwater Refuge.

Migration Part 3 - How Do They Find Their Way?

The osprey family is getting closer to the time when they will migrate south, so in this Web Log we'll look at how the ospreys will find their way.

Bird navigation is a subject that has challenged ornithologists for many generations. Even today, there are unanswered questions about how birds find their way to distant lands, but each year bird researchers manage to fill in more pieces of the puzzle.

Current research tells us that migratory ospreys have a genetic component that tells them when they should leave and what direction they should travel. The sense of "when to go" can be triggered by several different factors, but is most likely triggered by the changing length of daylight -- known as the photoperiod. The photoperiod triggers other aspects of a bird's life as well, such as feather molting and production of sexual hormones, so the photoperiod is like an external clock that is in sync with the bird's internal biological clock.

Once ospreys make the decision to leave, they must then use their inherent navigational skills to locate their nonbreeding grounds. Since adult ospreys return to the same nonbreeding grounds each year, it's believed that on subsequent trips adults will use landmarks to help guide them. But fledglings are flying blind -- without the benefit of having "learned" what landmarks they should look for -- so young birds must use other clues to navigate, such as the sun, the moon, and the stars. In addition to sky-reading skills, birds also have at their disposal certain skills that even humans don't possess -- such as sensitivity to the Earth's magnetic field and sensitivity to low frequency sounds created by wind and waves. During migration, ospreys frequently use their navigational tools in combination, so they can find their way through many challenging conditions.

While ospreys may be similar to other birds in the way they navigate, ospreys are unique among raptors in that they are very strong flyers. While soaring raptors rely on landforms that create thermals and updrafts, ospreys have the option of flying with or without light air. And this ability allows them to do something many other raptors prefer not to do -- cross large bodies of water and even deserts on their way south. (European ospreys cross the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea, while North American ospreys cross the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea). And ospreys have the added advantage of being able to hunt and eat while they migrate -- often carrying a fish in their talons and munching on it as they travel.

Bird Migration on Radar

So what does it look like when thousands -- or even millions -- of ospreys, hawks, eagles, songbirds, and waterfowl are migrating? Well some people go to migration hubs like Hawk Mountain, PA. to watch part of the spectacle, and some people go out on an autumn night -- especially after a cold front has passed -- and watch the face of the moon as the multitude of birds fly by. But for most of us migration takes place in a part of the sky that we cannot see, so the next best thing is to watch it on radar.

NEXRAD (Next Generation Radar) is the Doppler radar system that helps us see our weather, and it can also see bird migrations. In fact, researchers can use radar to also watch the migrations of bats, butterflies, and other insects -- although sometimes the appearance of creatures on radar is not always welcome. One such time was in November 1995, when a Canadian blizzard created a mass migration of an estimated 50-80 million ducks and geese -- a number so large that it overwhelmed the air traffic control radar in Kansas and Nebraska.

To see a sample of bird migration on radar, click on this animated NEXRAD graphic, which shows a large burst of birds heading north (this was recorded in the spring) as they fly from Havana, Cuba over the Gulf of Mexico into Florida -- leaving en masse under favorable flying conditions on one spring evening.

When looking at this radar graphic, it's important to remind ourselves that the larger blobs on the radar screen are composed of many smaller blips -- each one representing a fragile bird struggling to make its way home.

Our two young ospreys will need a bit of luck if they are to eventually migrate back to Blackwater Refuge to raise their own families -- but they definitely have a chance. In David Gessner's book Return of the Osprey, his wife Nina reflected on their own local osprey chicks and said, "Since I'll never know what happened, I'll choose to believe that they survived." And David Gessner said he chose to believe the same. "Choosing, that is, to be hopeful."

We will continue to capture the family's daily activities via the Cam and the Gallery, but next week will be the last installment of our 2004 Web Log, when we'll provide some final thoughts about our ospreys and Blackwater Refuge.

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)

Pic of the Week: Our Pic of the Week goes to Nancy H and Kathy R who sent in good photos that show the mother and fledglings in their alarm stances. The family has a good view of the surrounding sky, so they are quick to react to anything in the airspace over the nest -- especially if the bird is not another osprey.

Contest Winner: For those who did not see the posting, we announced a winner in our "Name the Chicks" contest. You can see the winning entries on our Contest page. The winner will receive two attractive Blackwater caps and a certificate. Thanks to our winner and to all the cam watchers who took the time to enter their names. We had a lot of creative and thoughtful entries.

Migration Part 2: Where Do They Go?

The osprey family will migrate south in a few weeks -- the parents probably leaving first, followed by the juveniles. Ospreys tend to be as loyal to their nonbreeding grounds as they are to their breeding grounds, so the adult ospreys will likely go to the same place they went last year.

So now the question is: Where do they go?

Individual ospreys are unique in that while papa might go to Ecuador,
mama might go to Brazil, and the chicks could end up in Colombia and Venezuela, so knowing their exact destination is impossible unless we attached transmitters to the birds and tracked them with satellites -- something that has been done with other ospreys in order to learn more about the species.

But despite the lack of transmitters, we can still make a "guestimate" as to where our ospreys might go. (At this point it's worth noting that when the mother and father reunite in the spring, they'll likely migrate north using the same route they took south, but will return at a faster rate in order to secure their preferred nesting site.)

Below is a hypothetical itinerary for our ospreys. The details of this trip are based on satellite-tracking data provided by transmitter-equipped ospreys that migrated
down the Atlantic Coast to South America -- the likely wintering grounds for our ospreys. You can follow the itinerary on the map.

Fall Migration:

• Leave Blackwater Refuge in Maryland in late August or early September
• Fly down the Delmarva Peninsula, across the Delaware Bay, and stop at Albemarle Sound, near Hertford, North Carolina
• Leave the coast at Cape Fear, North Carolina and move out over the Atlantic Ocean
• Fly back over land near Osceola, Florida and the St. Johns River (a popular river for ospreys)
• Head down toward Miami, Florida and prepare to cross the Gulf of Mexico towards Cuba (Cuba is one of the major migration corridors for ospreys -- most breeding ospreys from eastern North America will make a stop in Cuba)
• Fly 120 mi. over the Gulf of Mexico to Cuba in less than a day
• Move slowly through Cuba, resting and feeding, and cross over to Hispaniola, northeast of Port-au-Prince (a popular spot for migrating ospreys arriving from Cuba)
• Fly almost 400 miles across the Caribbean Sea into South America and rest on the Guajira Peninsula in northern Venezuela
• Move gradually southeast across Venezuela and settle for the winter near the fish-laden Orinoco River Delta, which drains many of the rainforests of Venezuela

Including side trips and time spent for feeding and resting, ospreys from the Chesapeake Bay could fly 2000-4000+ miles during their individual journeys and take around 15-50 days to reach their final destinations -- all dependent on the individual osprey's personal flight plan. Keep in mind that when our juvenile ospreys migrate they will do it alone, with little fishing experience, and with no prior knowledge of the world outside the Refuge.

So how do they do it? Unfortunately the truth is that many young ospreys don't. Less than half of juvenile ospreys that leave the nest will live long enough to breed (osprey young can breed when they're three years old). On their journey south and on their wintering grounds, all ospreys -- both young and old -- will face many perils, such as bad weather, misdirection, power lines and TV/radio towers, human overfishing, water pollution, habitat loss, environmental contamination, trapping, and shooting.

But despite the many obstacles that ospreys face, the truly amazing fact is that many in the total population will survive (around 85% of the adults) and will return in the spring to give birth to the next generation of fish hawks. And when these adults give birth, they will pass on to their young the same innate navigation skills that allowed the adults to survive their first migration.

In the next Web Log, we'll take a look at the navigation skills that young ospreys inherit from their parents -- skills that allow them to journey thousands of miles to a place they've never been before, and then hopefully return home again to Blackwater Refuge.

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)

Pic of the Week: We had two different occasions when it looked like we might have had our first empty nest with both chicks flying. It was difficult to tell the exact moment, so our Pic of the Week goes to Jan Sheppard and Annette Salamone who both sent in possible “first” shots. Be sure to visit the Gallery for more great photos taken over the past week.

Also, we have a bonus photo this week. George Brill, a cam watcher and photographer, sent in a beautiful photo of the Cam Platform that he took recently during a visit to Blackwater Refuge. In the photo you can see the slender white camera to the right. You can also see the mother osprey perched outside the nest (to give the chicks room for flight practice), with one chick sitting inside. Also note that the platform box is very shallow. Ospreys that nest in trees often have much deeper nests that they add to each year. But when ospreys nest on artificial platforms, they don't seem to mind the shallower boxes. Much thanks to George for this nice view of the platform.

If you'd like to see more photos that George took around the Blackwater area and also some osprey photos he took near his home, you can view a slide show on his website.

Migration Part 1: Why Do They Leave?

Our ospreys will begin migration in about a month, so during the next three Web Logs, we're going to answer the three most important osprey migration questions: Why do they leave? Where do they go? How will they find their way?

First, it's worth noting that not all ospreys migrate in the fall. Those that live in milder climates (such as southern Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean) stay in the same general area for the entire year, but most ospreys from North America, Europe, and northern Asia will migrate south in the fall (ospreys from North America generally go to Mexico, Central America, and South America, and ospreys from Europe and northern Asia generally go to Africa, India and southeast Asia).

But why do ospreys leave? Generally because of food. In most climates, ospreys could survive the winter temperatures, but the cold weather forces their food source -- fish -- to leave the area or move to deeper waters. Ospreys need unfrozen water and fish that are near the surface, so to survive they must migrate to a climate where the fish are more accessible.

Some people wonder why migrating birds don't stay in the south, where it's sunny and warm. The reason is because places like the tropics are too limited in space for breeding. Many types of birds need space when raising a family (some need lots of space), and northern breeding grounds offer more room, food, and nesting habitats than the wintering grounds in the south.

When osprey families migrate, they leave as individuals and migrate south alone. During last year's cam season, it looked like the mother left first and then the father (a typical osprey departure schedule). Once the parents left, the chicks were on their own at the nest, and it looked like they were agitated by something -- quite possibly aggressive bald eagles taking advantage of the fact that the parents were gone. The young stayed a little longer to gain strength for their migration flight, and then they left. Interestingly enough, as soon as the young migrated, the eagles took over the platform.

Fall migration season is an exciting time at Blackwater Refuge, as well as many other areas in the U.S., when millions of birds -- like our ospreys -- are on the move. Blackwater is well known for its large number of waterfowl migrants. But there are two places on the East Coast that are well known for their raptor migrants -- Cape May, New Jersey and Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania. Both places are migrating bottlenecks where raptors -- such as ospreys, hawks, eagles, and falcons -- fly over by the thousands.

Hawk Mountain offers a particularly inspiring story. In the early part of the 1900s, Kittatinny Ridge (part of the East Coast's Appalachian ridge) became a hunters' paradise as the shooters would line up on the mountain to injure and kill thousands of unsuspecting raptors as they migrated south. In 1934, conservationist Rosalie Edge acquired land in Pennsylvania where most of the slaughter was occurring, and a few years later this land became Hawk Mountain Sanctuary -- the first raptor refuge in the world. Today the sanctuary serves as a model organization that promotes raptor conservation and education, not only in North America but also around the world. You can visit their website to learn more about raptors and about visiting the sanctuary during fall migration when the raptor count can reach almost 20,000.

Just for the record: Hawk Mountain counted 680 ospreys in the 2003 fall migration season and Cape May counted 1,975 ospreys. Osprey expert Alan Poole said that on one early October day years ago, he saw almost 800 ospreys fly over the dunes at Cape May -- a rare concentration of fish hawks and undoubtedly an amazing sight to behold.

In the next Web Log, we'll look at where our ospreys will go and what stops they're likely to make as they travel south for the winter.

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)

In addition to the flying, we also saw some interesting shots this week that show there is definitely a hierarchy in the nest, despite the fact that the chicks were born less than ten hours apart. Several times this week we saw one chick commandeer a large piece of fish for himself (something an older chick will start to do). The younger sibling was then forced to approach the older chick, with the hope of getting a share of the meal. You can see it play out in this sequence: Food Dynamics. Thanks to Kathy R for these photos.

Many amazing photos have been added to the Gallery, so be sure to check them out. And a big thanks to everyone who has been making sure we see all the important moments.

Pic of the Week: Our Pic of the Week goes to Jan Sheppard and Kathy R who sent in the first photos where it appeared there was a solo chick in the nest.

Contest Reminder: A final reminder -- the "Name the Chicks" contest will end on July 20, 2004, so be sure to submit your names. Visit our Contest page for details.

A Day in the Life

Now that the fledglings are beginning to move about and will soon begin exploring the Refuge, what will they find in their daily adventures?

Like all animals at Blackwater, the young birds will find 27,000+ acres of forests and marshlands that are managed for their benefit. Blackwater Refuge is one of over 540 units in the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System, and as such its lands and waters are managed to provide food, cover, and protection for wildlife -- especially migratory birds and endangered species. In fact, national wildlife refuges are the only federal lands in America where wildlife comes first (see our Centennial slide show from last year for more information about the Refuge System).

Blackwater Refuge is on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay and serves as an important stopover for birds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway (a migration highway along the Atlantic Coast). From October through November, as many as 50,000 geese, ducks, and tundra swans stop at Blackwater Refuge during their migration travels.

The Refuge contains many acres of beautiful woodlands -- dominated by the majestic loblolly pine tree -- but the heart of the Refuge is clearly its brackish tidal marshlands, which are fed by the Little Blackwater and Blackwater rivers -- two shallow rivers that will provide the osprey fledglings with all the fish they will need. (Both rivers are named Blackwater because of their dark water color, which comes from tannic acids that are picked up as the waters drain through peat soil in the marshes.)

Ospreys at Blackwater Refuge catch a variety of fish from the local waters. Among the species the Cam ospreys are likely to eat include carp, perch, bullhead catfish, and gizzard shad. In the larger waters of the Chesapeake Bay, menhaden is also frequently eaten by ospreys.

If you'd like to learn more about the fish at Blackwater Refuge, visit the Fish section of our Wildlife page where we have pop-up cards for the various species.

As for neighboring animals, the young ospreys will find bald eagles flying about, but fewer than we have in the winter, since some eagles head north in the summer (a fortunate happening for the inexperienced fledglings). The young will also find fellow ospreys nearby as two water-based platforms are relatively close to the Cam Platform. In addition, the fledglings will find a variety of frogs, snakes, turtles, muskrats, egrets, and herons milling about. In fact, great blue herons enjoy fishing in the waters just beneath the Cam Platform.

All in all, the Refuge is a fine place for young ospreys to grow up and later
return to when they're ready to start their own families. The waters, forests, and marshes of Blackwater Refuge offer ospreys a bountiful home and also offer human beings a beautiful place to visit. Chesapeake Bay writer Tom Horton summed up the beauty of the Bay's marshlands when he wrote:

"...when the sunset of a calm summer evening suffuses sky and water equally with a seamless, pastel coloration, and a flood tide sets the green marsh afloat between heaven and earth, it can be a place of infinite charm and contentment."

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)

Pic of the Week: Our Pic of the Week goes to Kathy R who sent in a nice photo illustrating the differences in plumage between the young ospreys and their parents. Immature ospreys are similar in appearance to the adults, but the young birds have a light-colored edge to their dark wing feathers. They also have tail feathers that are more conspicuously barred. The immature birds will lose these distinctions at about eighteen months of age. Ornithologists think they maintain these differences so the immature birds can fish and live alongside adults without appearing to be a threat.

To see the light-edged feathers up close, check out this photo of an immature osprey on a nest at Glen Martin National Wildlife Refuge. Glen Martin NWR is a refuge in the Chesapeake Bay and is popular to both waterfowl and ospreys.

First Flight:

The young ospreys are rapidly approaching the big moment when they will take their first flight off the platform and out into the challenging world of the Refuge. In the past couple weeks, the chicks have been spending more time flapping their wings and exercising the muscles that will soon help them become self-reliant ospreys.

Avian parents do not need to teach their young to fly -- chicks fly instinctively. And the osprey parents are anxious to get the young flying, as the juveniles will have to migrate thousands of miles to Central and South America in less than two months, so there is no time to waste. Osprey parents will withhold food right before fledging time, to lighten up the birds and prepare them for flight. And sometimes parents will also use food to tempt the juveniles into making the first scary leap.

In preparation for the big day, the young will practice by making hop flights across the nest. Sometimes they will also make brief hover flights above the nest, letting the wind catch their wings and suspend them in the air for seconds at a time. However, if they're not careful this practice can accidentally lead to a first flight, as osprey watcher Marilyn Porto Abbey describes in a scene from Tioga, PA.:

"One of our ospreys was standing on the edge of the tower platform exercising her wings. At one point, she lifted off about 6 inches and was watching her dangling feet when a gust of wind came and tumbled her backwards off the platform. At about 3-4 feet off the ground, she flapped her wings and righted herself. She arched around in a most graceful flight and landed in a dead tree about 100 yards away, as though she had been doing it for years!"

For most osprey fledglings, their first flight will be more deliberate but no less exciting, as ornithologist Arthur Cleveland Bent describes in Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey:

"Finally, confidence in the power of its wings, or the example set by its parents, prompts the boldest of the young to make its first real flight away from the nest, a supreme moment in its life. With surprising ease it sails or flaps along, but it soon becomes tired and looks for a place to perch. Its attempts to alight on a treetop are awkward and uncertain; it has not learned to grasp a slender perch and finds it difficult to get its balance with much flapping of wings and wiggling of tail. It may be forced to alight on the ground to rest...Such flights are short at first and the young always seem glad to return to the firm flat top of the nest, which will be their headquarters, bedroom, and dining room for several weeks yet."

At Blackwater Refuge, the Osprey Cam platform is on a tall pole, so the first drop the young ospreys make will be a big one. In the book Return of the Osprey, author David Gessner describes the leap that a young harbor osprey took off a tall platform -- a description that might apply to our birds:

"Talons near the platform's edge, he flaps and flaps, as if buying time, peering down nervously, until suddenly, abruptly, he hops forward. At first it looks like this is a mistake...he heads down, not out, falling directly toward the ground. But then, after the initial dip, he swoops back up in roller-coaster fashion, taking a quick loop around the harbor before awkwardly regaining the nest."

Learning to fly is the first important step for young ospreys, but the second step is mastering sophisticated fishing skills. Until they learn to fish successfully, the juveniles will continue to rely on their parents for food.

Ornithologists have noted that while the juveniles are flying around and learning to fish, sometimes they will land on a neighboring osprey nest -- of which there are plenty around Blackwater Refuge. Adult ospreys are apparently tolerant of wayward juveniles from other nests, and sometimes even feed the visiting fledglings before the young head back to their real homes. At this busy time of year, it appears it's all in the family for the osprey community.

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)

Pic of the Week: Our Pic of the Week goes to Nancy H who sent in a pair of especially clear shots that show the mother osprey using her nictitating membrane -- or transparent eyelid. Like all raptors, ospreys have a nictitating membrane that moves horizontally across each eye. The transparent eyelids have several functions, such as protecting the eyes during feeding, keeping the eyes moist, and cleaning the eyes when they become irritated.

See the Gallery for more interesting shots -- and much thanks to everyone who has been sending in their photos.

Cam Note: Several cam watchers had expressed an interest in knowing what kind of weather the ospreys are dealing with, so we've added a weather link on the cam page. Under the "Brought to you" line on the cam page is a "Refuge Weather" link that will open a small pop-up box that gives the current weather conditions at the Refuge. If you click on the pop-up graphic itself, you can see a full-page weather forecast for the area.

A good sign that it's warm is when the mother osprey uses her wings to create shade for the chicks.

Building an Osprey Platform

One of the biggest struggles in an osprey's life is finding a good place to raise a family. Human development, especially along the coasts, has reduced the number of natural nesting sites available to ospreys, so many of them turn to artificial sites when searching for a home.

As it turns out, artificial nesting sites have played a vital role in the comeback of the osprey. According to osprey expert Alan Poole, "The great majority of coastal osprey nests today are on artificial sites. On the New England coast between New York and Boston, it's close to 100 percent." Poole says that the ospreys' dependence on artificial structures makes them "the purple martins of the raptor world" but it's this adaptability to artificial sites, and to humans, that have helped the osprey recover from the devastating effects of the pesticide DDT, which pushed them toward extinction.

Ospreys fish in shallow waters, so their favorite habitats are lakes, inshore waters, freshwater marshes, and salt marshes. When looking for a natural nesting site, ospreys will favor high trees or snags (particularly isolated ones) that are in the water or relatively close to the water. Tree height can vary, but because of predator concerns the ospreys prefer the tallest of trees, with an unobstructed view of the surrounding sky. Water-based nests can be shorter due to the lack of land predators.

In areas where competition for natural sites is stiff, ospreys turn to artificial structures such as utility poles, buoys, and channel markers; but the safest artificial sites are land and water platforms that were specifically made for ospreys.

Many people who live near osprey-friendly waters like to build their own osprey platforms. Ospreys are extremely loyal to their nesting sites, so once an osprey pair adopts a platform, there's a good chance the ospreys will return each nesting season. Platform designs usually consist of a platform atop a pole or tripod. Sometimes platforms are also placed on topless trees. Any new platform should be in place by late January or early February -- before the nesting season begins.

When locating a platform, it's important to remember that land predators (raccoons, skunks) and airborne predators (eagles, owls) can pose a threat to the parents and chicks, which is why it is important that land sites offer adequate distance from the ground and a clear view of the surrounding sky. It's also a good idea to have a metal predator guard on the pole or tree that supports the platform. Water-based platforms are an even better option as they are generally safe from climbing predators and are closest to the osprey's food source.

Below are several websites that provide tips and plans for building your own osprey platform. If you have a specific question about platforms and it's not answered on these websites, you can write to us using our contact page.

Osprey Platform Links:

• Citizens United to Protect Maurice River
• Ospreys.com
• Roanoke Wildlife Rescue
• University of Minnesota Raptor Center

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)

Pic of the Week: In the Pic of the Week, what do the three poses have in common? They're all examples of chicks learning to go outside the nest. Ospreys are tidy birds, and when they relieve themselves they attempt to shoot it over the edge of the platform. If you look on the sides of the platform, you can see where they've hit the boards. Sometimes they also hit the cam lens, but fortunately they've done that only once this year.

If you'd like to see what happens when an osprey's aim is off, check out this osprey photo on the Maurice River website.

Contest Reminder: The "Name the Chicks" contest is running from June 20-July 20, 2004. Find out how to enter on our Contest page . Entry in the contest is free.

Ospreys and Bald Eagles

On June 20, 1782, the Second Continental Congress made the bald eagle the national emblem of the United States and placed its image on the Great Seal. Two hundred years later in 1982, June 20 was declared National Bald Eagle Day, and today many states continue to use the day to honor one of America's most enduring patriotic symbols.

Bald eagles are a big attraction at Blackwater Refuge because the area supports the largest nesting population of bald eagles on the Atlantic Coast, north of Florida. Depending on when you visit, spotting a bald eagle at Blackwater Refuge can be as easy as biking down the Wildlife Drive and seeing a pair sitting in a perch tree near the road.

During the months when bald eagles and ospreys are both residing at the Refuge, the two species are not strangers as bald eagles are legendary for their habit of stealing fish from the smaller ospreys. The bald eagle's strategy is to let the osprey do the work of catching the fish, then follow the osprey in the air and harass it until the smaller bird is forced to drop its dinner. In fact, this raptor confrontation has proven to be a popular subject for wildlife artists:

• Painting 1
• Painting 2

Many accounts of the birds' battles end with the osprey dropping the fish, but in the book The Bald Eagle: Haunts and Habits of a Wilderness Monarch, one of the authors describes an event on a Saskatchewan lake that showed a surprising twist to the usual skirmish:

"The eagle attacked from a few feet above and to one side of the Osprey -- once, twice, and then a third time. On each pass the Osprey visibly flinched, for the eagle's talons barely cleared its back. We anxiously awaited the outcome. Many observers had described how typically the Osprey drops its fish, and with surprising agility the Bald Eagle snatches the fallen prey in midair. We were not prepared for what happened. After three unsuccessful attacks, the eagle turned to brute force. This time coming up fast from behind and below, the eagle flipped onto its back, thrust its talons upward, and ripped the fish right out of the Osprey's grasp. What a sight! After quickly righting itself, the eagle turned and flapped leisurely to deposit the booty on its nest."

At Blackwater Refuge, bald eagles and ospreys often feed in the same general area, so it's not uncommon to see eagles harassing ospreys. Tom Miller, the Park Ranger at Blackwater Refuge, reports that several times he has seen an osprey head-off an eagle in order to let its mate get back to the nest with their fish. He also says that it is not unheard of for an eagle to take an osprey chick, but he believes it is rather rare, as eagles appear to be more interested in the ospreys' fish rather than their young.

Tom states that while the ospreys may occasionally lose their dinner, they are not at all cowardly when dealing with the eagles and are in fact very vigilant when protecting their nest from troublemakers.

During the fall and winter months, when the ospreys are in Central and South America, bald eagles often take over the Osprey Cam platform and use it as a riverside perch. But the eagles will always vacate the nest when the ospreys return to claim it again in the spring.

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)

Pic of the Week: Our Pic of the Week goes to Kolibaba who sent in a nice shot of the mother osprey preening near the cam lens. Ospreys preen to keep their feathers clean and to keep them covered in the special oil that helps waterproof them. The oil comes from a preen gland, which is located at the base of the upper tail feathers.

Also, Kathy R sent in a shot that gives us a clear view of the chick's crop (the organ that stores food for later consumption).

Thanks to those who have been sending in their pics of all the nest activity.

Osprey - the Ultimate Fisherman

A couple of cam watchers wanted to know more about how ospreys fish. Ospreys are recognized as among the most skilled fishermen in nature. It's been reported that in North America the osprey has shown an amazing 90% success rate in some catches-per-dive studies, with a nationwide average of nearly 40% -- an excellent percentage for a raptor.

Ospreys eat only fresh fish and normally catch their food by diving feetfirst into shallow water from heights of 30-120 feet, while sometimes hitting speeds of 80 mph. Ospreys are not underwater fishermen -- like loons -- but instead go for almost any type of catchable fish that swims or basks near the surface (usually not deeper than 3 feet). When you examine an osprey's attributes, it becomes clear why they so often succeed in catching their prey:

Body: An osprey's body is light, weighing only 2.5 to 4.5 pounds. Ospreys are unique among raptors in that they can stop and flutter over water as they search for the best moment to strike their prey, and may even abort several dives before making a final plunge. The plumage on an osprey is compact and oily to keep the feathers from getting waterlogged, and the chest feathers are denser to help absorb the impact of hitting the water.

Wings: An osprey's wings contain more feathers than other large raptors, and the wings are also longer and thinner.

Ospreys are strong flyers and are capable of carrying fish that are almost as heavy as they are. Once an osprey has caught a fish, it will turn the fish in its talons so that the fish faces headfirst, thus allowing the osprey to fly home in the most aerodynamical way (click on the thumbnail of the flying osprey for a larger version -- and note the fish is headfirst).

Beak: An osprey's beak is sharp and hooked, which helps the bird tear through tough fish skins. On top of the beak are nostrils that can close completely when the osprey plunges into the water to catch a fish.

Eyes: An osprey's eyesight is 3-5 times greater than a human being's, and this vision helps an osprey judge the position of a moving fish under a fluid surface. Surrounding the osprey's eyes is a dark band, which reduces glare when the osprey flies over sunlit waters (in the same way black smudges under a football player's eyes help reduce glare).

Feet: An osprey's feet -- the main fishing tool -- are covered with scales on the top and spines (called spicules) on the bottom that, along with the sharp talons, help the osprey grip slippery prey. Osprey talons are curved like fishhooks, and the birds have an added feature of a reversible toe that allows them to have two toes forward and two toes back for better gripping. Osprey talons will reflexively snap closed when they come in contact with prey, and biologists report that the talons can snap shut faster than a human eye can blink.

Osprey Fishing Video

If you'd like to see a fishing osprey in action, download the QuickTime clip below, which features Bucko -- an 8-week-old osprey from Michigan -- practicing his fishing skills and getting a bath in the process. While watching the clip, notice how Bucko extends his feet in front of him just before hitting the water, and also notice how powerful his wings are as he quickly becomes airborne again. (Left-click on the link below, or right-click on the link and choose "Save Target As" to download. The clip is 3.5MB; you'll need the QuickTime player to view the clip.)

Video Clip Courtesy Of:
Earthluv Media
www.ospreylovers.com
©2002 Earthluv Media

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)

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)

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

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)

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)

Our technician also said he would expect to see a second chick late tomorrow or Thursday and the 3rd chick sometime Friday or Saturday (if the two remaining eggs hatch). Seeing all three hatch would be unusual, but if it occurs the first chick will have a tremendous head start on the other two, judging by our predicted timetable.

Edited on 5/26 and 5/28: The second chick was born on the afternoon of 5/25. The third chick was then born either on the afternoon of 5/27 or the morning of 5/28.

Pic of the Week: Kathy R gets the Pic of the Week for being the first to submit a photo that showed the new chick. Thanks to all those who sent in great shots of the newborn. Be sure to visit the gallery for more excellent photos of the little bird.

Here is a nice portrait shot of the chick
(click on thumbnail for larger version):

Osprey Crops

Ospreys are diurnal raptors (active in the daytime), and all raptors of this type have a special organ called a crop, which is a swelling at the base of the esophagus that forms a storage area where food can be held for later digestion. When the chick's crop develops over the next couple weeks, it will look like a small bulging protrusion on the chick's chest, and its presence will make life easier for the whole family. For the chick, the crop means the little bird can quickly swallow food that its siblings might want, and for the adults it means the chick can go longer between feedings.

Besides storing food for later consumption, the crop also stores indigestible material -- like bones and scales. These unusable fish pieces are captured in the crop and eventually molded into pellets that are later regurgitated. Whenever someone talks of pellets, we often think of owls; however, owls do not have crops -- they eat their prey whole, so all the contents goes to their stomachs and that's where the pellets are formed. Owls regurgitate pellets much more frequently than ospreys do, mainly because of their different eating methods.

If you could see our chick close up, below is what it would look like. This photo shows two newborn osprey chicks (about one and two days old) from Maurice River, New Jersey . The pic was loaned to us by Jane Morton Galetto, the president of Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and its Tributaries . Be sure to visit her group's website and look at their wonderful online osprey slide shows.

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)

Pic of the Week: The Pic of the Week goes to Norman Porter who captured a nice photo of the father osprey bringing another stick to the nest. The osprey parents will continue to bring material to the nest as a way to replace matter that has fallen out and also as a way to bury fish remains or other objectionable material that has piled up within the nest.

Now that we're getting close to hatching time, what can we expect to see when the big moment arrives? Before a chick makes its entry into the world, it will begin to chip away at the shell from the inside, using its egg tooth (the hardened tip of the upper beak). Below are two excellent photographs showing osprey newborns eating and resting. If you look closely at the second photo, you can see the white egg tooth on the upper beak of each of the newborn osprey chicks.

Click on the thumbnails for a larger version.

When an osprey chick finally breaks through its egg, it will be down-covered, weak and helpless (at birth, its neck will be the strongest part of the body as it was used to drive the egg tooth through the shell). A few hours after birth, a chick's eyes will open and it will be able to take fish bits from its mother.

The oldest eggs should hatch first, and these chicks will have a distinct advantage in the family pecking order. Osprey expert Alan Poole reports that when third chicks hatch, they are 25%-30% lighter on average than older siblings and less likely to survive when food is scarce. When food is in short supply, the older chicks have been known to turn on younger, weaker siblings, pecking at the runts and sometimes even killing them or pushing them over the edge of the nest.

Author David Gessner witnessed a fatal chick attack while observing an osprey nest in the Cape Cod area, a story which he details in his book "Return of the Osprey." Although he admits he was at first angry with the mother osprey for not preventing the attack, he said he later realized that he was judging the mother by human terms and that osprey families operate differently.

As Alan Poole has pointed out, "Parents never interfere in such squabbles, apparently because it fits their interests to raise one or two well-fed young, instead of the three or four weak ones that would result if scarce food were shared equally." Ospreys have been common in the northern hemisphere for the last 10 to 15 million years, so it is safe to say that their method for raising young is beneficial for the species.

If the food supply is good in the osprey's home area, this intense competition between the chicks is not necessary. Last year was our first year with more than one chick in the cam nest. During that time, both chicks appeared well-fed and there was no outright fighting seen in the nest, thus indicating that the food supply at Blackwater Refuge was apparently adequate for the family's needs. If all three eggs are successful this year, we will see if the local food supply -- and the father's hunting skills -- are up to raising such a large family.

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)

Pic of the Week: Our Pic of the Week goes to Kathy R, who sent in a pair of photos showing the osprey parent using a clod of soil to cover and uncover the eggs. The ospreys bring grass and soil clods to the nest to fill in the gaps between the sticks, and apparently the parents are also using the clods to keep the eggs warm and safe.

On May 8, 2004 -- this past Saturday -- we celebrated International Migratory Bird Day, an annual one-day event, held on the second Saturday in May, to celebrate the incredible journeys migratory birds make from their wintering grounds in Mexico, Central, and South America to their breeding grounds in North America.

Ospreys that reside in northern subtropical regions (such as southern Florida, Baja California, and the Pacific coast of Mexico) are year-round residents in those areas and do not migrate, but the remaining ospreys of the world migrate to warmer climates during the winter months. Chesapeake Bay ospreys migrate mostly to South America, and sometimes Central America, leaving the Bay area in September and returning the following March.

Like all migratory birds, ospreys face numerous challenges wherever they roam. While summering in North America, ospreys are forced to deal with intense competition for quality nest sites, a sometimes stressed-out food supply due to overfishing by humans, and extensive development along shorelines, which can lead to an impaired aquatic environment.

Lack of quality nest sites is especially problematic for ospreys because it can make birds delay their breeding for a few years, or even force them to nest in dangerous locations, such as on power line poles. Electrocutions and nest fires are deadly hazards for all raptors that nest near power lines.

Wintering in South and Central America can be equally challenging for ospreys. DDT -- the pesticide that had such a devastating impact on American osprey eggs in the 1950s and 1960s -- is still used in South and Central America, even though it was banned in the U.S. in 1972. In addition, logging of tropical forests can trigger erosion and runoff, leading to poor visibility in streams and rivers, as well as damaged reefs and fish-poor coastal waters, thus making it harder for ospreys to find food.

In Europe, egg-collecting is still a threat to ospreys. And in all parts of the ospreys' domain, hunting remains a potential threat -- even in the U.S. where ospreys are legally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Although shootings are rare, when they do happen they often come about because the local fish supply is poor and ospreys are forced to hunt in fish farms or commercially stocked ponds -- thus drawing the ire of gun-toting owners.

But despite these many obstacles, ospreys still remain one of the great comeback stories in U.S. conservation history. To many conservationists, ospreys are a living example that humans can learn from their mistakes and alter their behavior in time to save an entire species. Ospreys have certainly taught us that if we care enough, anything is possible.

If you're interested in learning how you can help migratory birds -- such as by shopping for shade-grown coffee or buying Duck Stamps -- then read our International Migratory Bird Day Citizen Tip Sheet (PDF - 93KB). Also, you can learn more about migratory birds by visiting the Smithsonian Institution's online Migratory Bird Center.

Until next time,

Lisa - webmaster (contact)