July 11, 2006
First Flights
A final reminder for the web log: Don't forget that Friday is the end of our Name the Osprey Chicks competition, so please enter today and help us name our chicks.
Nest Update: We've made the decision to delay our trip up to clean the camera lens since the chicks are starting to become airborne over the nest, indicating they could be close to flying. Going up now means we run the risk of spooking them into jumping before they're ready. So we'll just make do with our slightly misty cam until we feel it's safe to go up.
Our cam technician has designed a lens-cleaning device that we can activate from the ground. We plan to install it on the cam the next time we go up. If it works, we might be able to clear the lens of any future slicing accidents, both this season and in upcoming seasons.
On another nest-related matter: We've noticed that one of the parents brought what looks like a looped rope to the nest; it probably came with a previous fish dinner. Our ranger said he's not too worried about it because the loop is big enough that the ospreys should be able to free themselves if they get a talon caught in it. (A more worrisome item that ospreys sometimes bring to the nest is fishing line, which has been known to entangle adults and chicks, and even lead to death.) We'll keep an eye on the rope, although at this point it does not look like a problem.
Be sure to check out Tuesday's Gallery update as we had lots of great shots, including many beautiful photos from when our cam lens was nice and clean. In the update, we saw a few revelations as our chicks are beginning to act more like adults these days. We saw several photos where the chicks were feeding themselves and also some photos where they were wiping their beaks on the nest, just like the adults do after a meal.
Also we saw a couple shots where Mom was calling out at an intruder in the sky, and the older chicks joined in too, imitating Mom. Gone are the days when the helpless chicks just laid about in the nest like fuzzy little balls. Now they're starting to defend the nest just like their mother. And what was the intruder? We can't be sure, but maybe an eagle flew too close to the nest.
Lately we've also seen the father osprey dropping off fish and letting the kids fight over it when the mother is not in the nest. This is the type of behavior we'll see again around late August, when the mother osprey has started migration and the father is left to watch the kids until they're ready to head south. Dad's job at that point will be to provide additional food if the chicks are having trouble catching their own, and he will often do this by dropping a fish onto the platform for the chicks to eat.
First Flights:
Any day now we will witness our chicks taking their first flights off our tall Osprey Cam platform. Avian parents do not need to teach their young to fly -- chicks fly instinctively. Right now the chicks are "fly hopping" around the nest and even hovering above it. In fact on Tuesday, it seemed that one chick made a short "flight" above the nest. The chick must be careful though because a strong breeze could push it from the nest prematurely. If that happens, the chick will be forced into its first flight and may need to land on the ground and remain there for a while until it has the strength to return to the nest. If a fledgling is stuck on the ground, the parents will feed the stranded bird, but the chick will be vulnerable to land predators.
For most osprey fledglings, their first flight will be more deliberate, 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."
Once the new fledgling has left the nest for the first time and managed to return successfully, the next task will be to master the wind and the use of its own wings, because much is riding on the fledgling's ability to become a strong flyer. By the end of September these young birds must be ready to get themselves all the way to Central or South America for the winter -- possibly 2000 miles or more. So although the first flight is an exciting moment, it is just one step on the path to becoming a strong and independent adult osprey.
In past seasons with our Osprey Cam we've learned that while watching the chicks disappear from the nest for the first time can be exciting, watching them try to land again can also be very entertaining. The reason for this is that landing can be just as difficult a skill to master as flying. There have been stories of ospreys crashing into trees, landing in water, and hanging from branches by one foot. Among the more humorous moments we've seen on the cam was the time when a chick landed on Momma, who looked more than a little shocked by the sensation of talons on her back.
One other perk of fledging season is the fact that sometimes juvenile ospreys from other nests will "visit." In the past, we've never had more than two chicks at the Osprey Cam platform, so it's been easy to notice when there was an "extra" chick that had dropped in for a visit. Here is a photo from 2004 where you can see Mom suddenly noticing that there is a strange chick in her two-chick home. Ornithologists report that osprey adults are rather tolerant of wayward juveniles from other nests, and sometimes even feed the visiting fledglings before the young head back to their real homes. It's kind of like "trick or treat" in the osprey community -- chicks visit other nests to see if the snacks at the neighbors' house are any better than the ones they're getting at home.
This year with four chicks, I'm not sure if a visiting chick will want to land on the cam platform with all the competition at our nest. And if one does, I'm not sure if we'll be able to pick it out from the native chicks. But we can keep our eyes open for any shots where there are suddenly five juveniles in the nest. Although the sight of five chicks might scare our Mom away for good. :-)
So best of luck to our chicks as they each prepare for that big jump out into the world. We wish each of them a safe and wonderful first flight.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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