July 18, 2006
Virtual Reality Movie
Nest Update: Much congrats to our two middle chicks, who were the likely birds that fledged on Monday. We'll keep an eye out for signs that the youngest has fledged as well.
One of our cam watchers asked about how meals will work now that several chicks are apparently flying. For the time being, the chicks will continue to rely on the parents for food, but the chicks might eat some of their meals away from the platform. The youngest is still eating at the nest, in fact this afternoon we saw the youngest and another chick getting a meal from a parent before the other chicks returned to get some, too.
Once the fledglings are fishing for themselves, they might bring their meal to the platform to eat, but if they do, they run the risk of having the meal taken away. Last year we had a younger chick that would bring back his fish only to have his bigger sibling steal it from him. So once the fledglings are fishing, they would be wise to eat some of their meals as "take out."
Virtual Reality Movie
As I mentioned in the last web log, I recorded some video footage from the Osprey Cam TV monitor on Sunday. However, I haven't had a chance to edit it all yet, so we'll save that footage for another log post. But I do have a movie from Sunday that I think you will enjoy.
During the course of running the Osprey Cam, I've had many folks ask me what the area around the Osprey Cam platform looks like. I've posted a few still photos, but they don't really give our cam watchers a full view.
While I was at the Refuge on Sunday, I took a series of shots showing the entire 360-degree view from in front of the Osprey Cam platform. I was able to stitch the photos into a 360-degree QuickTime Virtual Reality movie (often referred to as QTVR). The movie below is 540 KB in size, and you can play it with the free QuickTime player. Either click on the link below and let it load, or right-click and save it to your hard drive to play. (If you don't have QuickTime, you can get it here).
When the file opens, just put your cursor over the movie, and while you hold down your left mouse button, move the cursor to the left and right, and you can spin 360 degrees to see the whole movie.
My creation is not perfectly aligned because I rushed the shots since the ospreys were starting to yell at me for being near the nest during meal time. But I think the movie gives you a good feel for what their environment looks like.
In the movie, there are several noteworthy features that I'll point out: If you move your cursor to the right after the movie opens, you will see the tall Osprey Cam platform, and behind it you can see our recently renovated Visitor Center. On both sides of the platform are small ponds, which are actually water impoundment areas that often contain herons, egrets, turtles, fish, and ducks. Sometimes the ospreys will look down and watch the action in the water (the water is closer to the ospreys than it appears in the movie). The staff at Blackwater Refuge can control how much rainwater is allowed to collect in these ponds.
The gravel road leading to the platform is the access road we use to maintain the camera and ground equipment. When the bucket truck visits to fix or clean the camera, this is the road they use to access the nest. Going down the road will make the ospreys fly off the nest, so we have a sign up saying the road is restricted to Blackwater staff, and we use the road only when necessary.
The stand of trees to the left of the platform are the ones that the eagles sometimes sit in, causing the osprey parents much consternation (the trees are closer to the nest than they appear in the movie). Also there is a water snag further to the left of the trees where eagles like to perch, and sometimes the ospreys are irritated by those eagles as well.
If you spin around in the movie, you'll see a paved road -- that's our Wildlife Drive. Much of the Refuge's 27,000 acres is water and wetlands, so unless you paddle, it can be hard to see some of the many species that call Blackwater home. In order to make the Refuge more accessible and enjoyable, we built a Wildlife Drive that runs through loblolly pine forests and along the Little Blackwater and Blackwater Rivers. The road is a 6.5 mile loop, and visitors can walk, cycle, or drive around it, and it takes them within close proximity to eagles, ospreys, numerous waterfowl, and even our endangered Delmarva fox squirrels. If you come to the Refuge, definitely spend some time on the Wildlife Drive, and be sure to bring your camera.
The long body of water in front of the Drive is the Blackwater River, which is the heart of the Refuge. This river is where many of the eagles and ospreys fish for their meals. It's hard to tell from my movie, but it's a big river with lots of marshland.
One of the features that makes the Blackwater River -- and the nearby Chesapeake Bay -- so attractive to eagles and ospreys, is that the water is very shallow, which fits in perfectly with their fishing styles, because eagles and ospreys catch their meals near the surface.
Visitors often ask us where the name "blackwater" comes from, and the answer is that the tannic acid from decaying leaves on the forest floor darkens the water, which then drains from thousands of acres into the river. Thus the dark, tea-colored liquid is called "blackwater."
Now that you've seen a bit of the Refuge, I invite you to come visit us if you can. Our most popular time of the year is around October to early December, when we host a huge amount of waterfowl. Blackwater Refuge is a major stop on the Atlantic Flyway (a bird migration highway) and in the fall and winter we host 50,000+ geese, ducks, and tundra swans. Throughout the year we host around 250 species of other birds, numerous mammals, and 165 species of threatened or endangered plants.
Blackwater Refuge is also home to the largest breeding population of bald eagles on the East Coast outside of Florida. Eagles can be seen almost any time of year because our adult eagles do not migrate out of the area, but winter is our best time for seeing eagles because we host many migrating eagles from the northeastern and southern sections of the country as well as from Canada.
If you want to see ospreys, then spring and summer is the time to visit (March to early September). When I was at the Refuge on Sunday, I passed by three osprey water platforms that were occupied, and I saw at least seven chicks -- and that's not counting the four at our cam platform. So Blackwater Refuge is very much osprey heaven, and you're in for a treat if you happen to see an osprey diving into the river to catch a meal.
The only caveat for summer is to bring your bug spray. Mosquitoes here are legendary, and have been known to fly off with small children. ;-)
In addition to the Wildlife Drive, we also currently have three land trails and three paddling trails. Also, don't forget that if you visit when the Eagle Cam and Osprey Cam are online, you can see the live video on our TV monitors at the Visitor Center.
If you'd like to learn more about visiting Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, be sure to check out the Frequently Asked Questions page on our website. And if you require further information that's not on our website, feel free to use the address and phone number on our FAQ page to contact the Blackwater staff directly.
If you'd like to see more photos and videos of the Refuge, see our website Gallery page, which includes a video of last year's osprey family "yelling" at me as I videotaped them.
Finally, a note about the Osprey Cam Gallery: Thanks to all those who are sending in photos from the cam. We'll get the Osprey Cam Gallery updated by the end of the week.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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