July 07, 2006
Visitor Center Observatory
Nest Update: As our cam watchers can see, the rain helped clean a little of our sprayed lens but not quite enough. Right now we're discussing what options we might have for cleaning the lens this close to fledging time. As always, the safety of the chicks will come first.
The good news is that once the chicks begin to fledge, there will be less slicing going on in the nest. With flight, the chicks will no longer be nest bound, and they will be able to relieve themselves elsewhere rather than in front of the cam. So the slicing situation will improve in time. We'll keep you updated on our possible plans for making another cleaning trip.
As we mentioned earlier, chicks often fledge at around 50-55 days of age. The oldest chick will be 47 days old on Friday, so that gives you an idea as to how close we are to possible fledging. We did see an interesting shot showing one of the chicks very close to the edge with his wings out. This looked like a chick contemplating takeoff.
When a chick commits to flight, we'll suddenly see a chick missing from the nest. Once the chick leaves, the mother will likely leave as well to monitor and encourage the chick as it strikes out into the larger world. In the next web log, we'll talk more about first flights and what happens when the chick takes that first scary plunge.
A couple more photos I wanted to point out: We had a not-so-fun moment regarding the youngest on Monday. During a feeding session, the youngest was sitting near the edge of the nest when one of the older chicks lunged at it, we assume in an effort to teach the smallest to be submissive. With the bully's aggressive jump, the youngest looked like it was about to get knocked from the nest, with it's head hanging out over the platform. Fortunately the youngest dug its talons in and tucked its head below the platform wall, but it still felt like a close call.
Also, at the beginning of the week the chicks had to tolerate some very hot weather. As anyone who has been in the mid-Atlantic area during summer knows, the region can get unbearably hot and humid, often feeling like a tropical rainforest. Although the chicks enjoy cooler temperatures by the Blackwater River, they were clearly uncomfortable for most of Monday, and in this photo you can see them with their eyes closed and mouths open. Birds don't have sweat glands, so heat is lost through the respiratory tract. Biologists report that songbirds pant, while birds like ospreys and eagles rapidly vibrate the upper throat and thin floor of the mouth (called "gular flutter").
Last year when we had two chicks, we experienced a brutal July and August with record temperatures. During the hottest periods, we saw some rather touching photos of the mother draping her wings over the chicks as the young birds clung to her for shade. Here's hoping this summer is not as harsh since our current mother might have trouble shading all four chicks at the same time.
Recently we had several periods where we could clearly see all the chicks separately and make a relatively good size comparison. In this photo, I combined a shot from when the chicks were about 10 days old with a shot from this week to show how much they have changed in just over a month. Amazing growth!
And on a final cam note, if you look in the upper-left corner of the cam image, you will see a patch of trees, which just became visible when we installed the new cam and straightened out our view. The trees that you see are part of a longer patch of forest where bald eagles sometimes like to sit. If you see the mother osprey looking in that direction or calling out, it's probably because there are eagles there and she isn't happy about their close proximity. In fact, our mother from last year took it upon herself to fly over there and dive bomb a couple of bothersome eagles.
Visitor Center Observatory
On a slightly different osprey topic, we recently updated our Renovation page on our website with photos showing the progress we are making in adding a second floor to our Visitor Center. Once the renovations are done toward the end of the year, we will open the second floor to the public, and osprey lovers should definitely come check it out when the next osprey nesting season rolls around.
On the second floor we will have our "Wild Birds Unlimited Observatory" where visitors can look through large observation windows out onto the Blackwater River, the wetlands and also the Osprey Cam nest. We will have high-quality spotting scopes installed so when the ospreys return in March, you will be able to peer right into the osprey platform and see the action for yourself. You might even be able to see the ospreys fishing in the river. If you'd like to know when we will be holding our Grand Opening for the entire building, you can join the Friends of Blackwater email mailing list, which we use to update folks on upcoming events and the latest news from the Refuge. [Note: Once you subscribe, you'll receive an email that will require your confirmation, and then you will be added to the list. If you don't get a confirmation email, check to make sure that your email provider has not marked the email as spam.]
For those who didn't see the earlier announcement I made, we are in the middle of our Name the Osprey Chicks Contest, so be sure to visit our Contest page where you can find out more about entering. Remember that the contest will end on July 14.
And last but not least, I have one osprey photo to share that isn't from Blackwater: Russ Yeaton, one of our cam watchers, took this wonderful photo of a nest at Spring Point Light in South Portland, Maine. Much thanks to Russ for the great shot of these handsome young chicks.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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