June 07, 2005
Still Waiting
We thought we had some possible hatching today, but no sign of a chick. Unfortunately, the osprey pair has a lot of material in the nest so when pieces of it move in the wind or poke up, it can look like a chick. As you can see in this evening's shot, we have two whole eggs.
June 8 and 9 are the first two likely hatching dates for the second egg, so Wednesday and Thursday might bring some hatching activity.
As an aid in what to look for: Below are two photos of a chick in last year's nest. You can see how it stands out a bit. Click on the thumbnail below.
But the very best clue that there is a chick is in watching the female. If she's looking under herself a lot or staying on the nest with her food and feeding it to something in the nest, then we have a chick.
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While watching the couple today, we did see some interesting scenes. First there was the stick shuffle, where one of them almost poked the others eye out with a branch. Careful with those sharp objects. :-)
We also saw an exchange where the male osprey came with a fish and wasn't sharing it, so the female decided to help herself. We've seen the male feeding on the end of the platform quite a bit, so it seems that he's a capable fisherman, but we're not sure about how willing he is to share his prizes. :-)
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster