June 18, 2006
Four Chicks and Holding
Nest Update: I just wanted to post a quick web log entry this evening. I just returned from my vacation in Nags Head, North Carolina, so it will take a couple days for me to go through all our wonderful gallery submissions and post a Gallery update. Thanks to everyone for the photos over the last week.
I did want to mention our camera situation. First, we want to thank Scott Rogers and Philip Lyons of AAccurate Tree Service for helping us clean the cam. Although the lens condensation did return, we appreciate their efforts in helping us.
If anyone missed my mid-week post, Scott said after he went up that the youngest chick was about the size of his hand, and the oldest chick was about the size of a chicken.
After Scott’s visit, the condensation returned almost immediately, so we think we might have a leak in the water-tight camera housing. At this point, the image is not terrible, but it is not perfect – especially when the sun is not out. And it is especially problematic in the evening, when the infrared lights up the condensation and makes it very hard to see the nest. So we’re still discussing what to do. We may leave the camera as it is, and wait to see if it gets worse. Or we might go up and swap the camera for another one. We should know more by the end of the week.
At this stage, all four chicks look amazingly good. I’ve sent a note to our bookstore manager to ask if the staff and volunteers have noticed any increased aggression via the TV monitor at the Visitor Center. When I hear back, I’ll post a note. As the chicks’ appetites get bigger, there is the chance that they could become more aggressive towards each other because of food shortages. But we’ll wait and see if that is the case.
Also, some folks have asked about the eagles. We have seen some shots of the eaglets on the Eagle Cam nest, although the family does not spend much time there. It’s possible they are occasionally sitting in the branches of the nest tree and we cannot see them. But they are likely spending a good deal of time out and about as the eaglets learn to become independent hunters.
Also, something that I wanted to mention that relates to both our cams: As many of our cam watchers have noticed, the cams themselves seem to attract spiders. This is an issue we’ve had since the first year we went live with the Osprey Cam. The heat of the cam likely attracts the bugs, and they will weave a web over the lens. You can see an actual spider here on the Eagle Cam.
There is nothing we can really do about the spiders but tolerate them. Fortunately their webs are not visible during the day. As it is, neither eagles nor ospreys eat insects, so the bugs have nothing to fear from the raptors and will remain throughout most of the summer.
Thanks again to everyone who watched over the birds while I was away. I look forward to getting back into the swing of things with the osprey family now.
Also, I’m waiting to hear if the osprey chicks are visible from our Wildlife Drive. If they are, I plan to go out with my camcorder soon and get some video of them peeking out of the nest, then I’ll post the clips in the web log.
Until next time,
Lisa – webmaster
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