August 02, 2006
Contest Winners
Our 2006 "Name the Chicks" contest has come to a close, and we want to thank everyone who participated. We received many thoughtful and creative entries, and our staff had a hard time picking out just four names.
We had three winners this year, and they are listed below.
Congratulations to our winners:
Heidi Graser from Wooster, Ohio with the names Cloud Dancer and Wind Runner; Linda Pittsley from Boise, Idaho with the name Hunter; and Patricia Mishico from New Fairfield, Connecticut with the name Skye Diver
All our winners will receive an osprey prize from our gift store and also a certificate of appreciation for helping us name our record-breaking four chicks.
As for assigning the names, I think Hunter is an appropriate name for our oldest, which might be our missing chick. If he's safe and sound, then he must be a very independent osprey that learned to provide for himself rather early.
That would mean our middle chicks were the ones Bob Quinn saw playing out in the Refuge when he took the photos I posted in the last web log entry, so we'll name them Skye Diver and Wind Runner.
And for our youngest, I think the name Cloud Dancer is fitting as there were many times over the last couple months when we had doubts that the littlest would ever make it to migration age, but now the youngest will soon be dancing in the clouds as he heads to Central or South America for the winter -- a fantastic achievement for a fourth chick.
Our chicks are spending much of their time out in the Refuge now, learning to master their flying and fishing skills, and learning to relate to other creatures in their environment. The chicks are still several weeks from migration, but now is the time when they must develop the knowledge they'll need to look after themselves once they leave Blackwater and the safety of their family.
Our chicks are lucky, although they certainly don't know it. If you remember, our adult couple at the Osprey Cam platform this year returned to Blackwater Refuge in early March and set up nesting right away. (Biologists report that experienced osprey couples often return early to their nesting grounds, compared to inexperienced couples that often show up late.) As a result, all four cam chicks officially fledged before the beginning of August.
If you look at last year's inexperienced pair (we believe it was a different couple) they took over the platform late and hatched their two chicks late. As a result, last year's youngest chick did not fledge until the middle of August, and migrated only three weeks later. We don't know if the youngest made it to Central or South America, but sadly the odds were not in his favor.
This year's osprey parents have given their four chicks more than a month to prepare for migration, so the young are benefiting from the wisdom and experience of their parents, and they will have a better chance of surviving the flight down south because their parents have given them an advantage from the start.
Osprey migration is an interesting topic, so in the next couple web logs, we'll talk more about why the birds leave and what areas in Central or South America they might choose for their winter homes. Also, we'll talk about how the young birds find their way to a place they've never seen before, and what dangers might exist for them along their journey.
Once again, congratulations to our contest winners, and thanks to everyone for sending in their wonderful entry names. And we'll update the Gallery over the weekend.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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