July 16, 2006
Fledgling Videos
Nest Update: Today I went to the Refuge and was fortunate enough to see one of the older chicks fledge as soon as I arrived. I was able to film several videos showing the occasion.
The videos below are Windows Media Video files. They will play best if you just download them to your computer. Right-click on the photos and choose "Save Target As" or "Save Link As" to download. Note that the clips do not have audio. I stayed in my car to film them because when I get out of the car near the nest, the ospreys get aggitated.
In the first video, the new fledgling (which right before this sequence had flapped a couple times) suddenly jumps out of the nest. It is a short flight but a good start. At the end of the video, the fledgling lands, and one of the middle chicks is inspired to do a little flapping too (forgive the blurriness -- my auto focus was having a hard time keeping up with the young bird).
In the second video, a sibling gooses the new fledgling, causing the chick to take off on another flight. This second flight is a bit wobbly at the start and the landing is a bit tentative, but he hits the mark.
In the third video, the same chick is in flight yet again, but this time when the young osprey returns, a small marsh bird decides to harass the chick a bit. Welcome to the world, new fledgling!
In the fourth video, the mother returns with a fish (note that our fledgling is sitting on the camera arm, outside of our view). After her arrival, suddenly a strange osprey tries to land, but makes the mistake of attempting to land on a chick, which makes the mother osprey angry (the stranger looked like an adult, but it may have been another fledgling from a neighboring nest). The intruder is chased off by the mother, but the same bird returns again and is then chased off a final time.
Finally in the fifth video, our new fledgling comes down from his "bedroom" and joins the family in the dining area.
While I was capturing these videos with my camcorder, I was also taping video from the TV monitor at our Visitor Center using a VCR. It will take me a couple days to edit and compress that video for the website, but I'll try to have some clips ready for the next web log post.
So congrats to our new fledgling! The others should fly soon now that they have the example of their older sibling to follow. Unfortunately it may be hard to tell which chick is coming and which is going, but we'll keep an eye out for photos that seem to indicate more and more chicks are leaving.
And just a reminder, even though the chicks are starting to fly, they will still use the platform for eating, resting, and sleeping for a while yet. Over time they will become more independent, and then they will begin roosting in the trees and eating more of their meals on a perch away from the platform.
As for the youngest, I did see him do a little flapping today and a little hop flying around the nest. It's hard to say when he will fly or how close he will be in fledging with the others. But he might surprise us and go sooner than we think.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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