April 22, 2006
Fourth Egg
First, I wanted to mention a new feature on our website. Over the past year, a number of our cam watchers had expressed an interest in making an online donation to the Friends of Blackwater using their credit cards. We have now added a PayPal donation button to our Support page for those who would like to donate electronically. We thank our supporters who help make our projects -- like the raptor cams -- possible. If you have questions about donating, be sure to also check out our Donation Policy page.
Nest Update: As we mentioned on the cam page earlier, we now have four eggs at the nest. We believe the fourth egg was laid on the afternoon of April 20, which was when several cam watchers said they thought they saw it. We then had our ranger confirm that he saw a fourth egg on the TV monitor at the Visitor Center. So we can add the following to our scorecard:
4th egg
Date laid: 4/20
Possible hatch: 5/28
Several cam watchers have asked if four eggs is a good thing. While it is certainly very exciting since we've never had four before at the platform, several of us here at the Refuge would have preferred to have only three eggs.
The likelihood of four chicks surviving and fledging is very small. We have never had even three chicks survive at the platform, let alone four. Unfortunately what will most likely occur is that one or two of the eggs might not hatch, or one or two of the chicks will perish early on.
While our parents seem very capable, and the fish in the region are plentiful, raising four chicks to fledgling age is a difficult task for even the most skilled adult ospreys. So while we hope for the best, we want to prepare our cam watchers for the possibility that some of the chicks might not make it, assuming all the eggs hatch.
As we've seen in our many years with the cams, a raptor chick must be tough in order to survive in the nest. But this is Nature's way of weeding out the weak and ensuring that the ones most likely to survive will get fed and nurtured. In the end, it is only the strongest chicks that can prosper in the larger world with all the challenges that await them -- both natural and man-made. We wish the family the best of luck with their four new eggs, and we hope for the best.
On a final note, I wanted to share a couple beautiful osprey images sent to us by Randy Loftus of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Click on the thumbnails to see a larger version:
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Randy's "Three Osprey Chicks" photo won 2nd prize in the Fall 2005 Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Photo Contest. Randy took the photo while he was out on the water helping to clean hazardous material -- like fishing lines -- from osprey nests. Much thanks to Randy for his work and his photos.
Happy Earth Day everyone!
Lisa - webmaster
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