April 03, 2007
Welcome to a New Season!
We want to welcome everyone to another season with our Blackwater Refuge ospreys!
For those who are new to our Osprey Cam, this is our seventh year watching the ospreys on our live web cam from the Refuge. Altogether we've watched 12 chicks hatch and fledge since 2001.
Because ospreys eat fresh fish almost exclusively, our ospreys must migrate from Blackwater Refuge in September, which is when it starts to turn cool. Once the ospreys return from South America (or Central America or Florida) in March, they almost immediately begin rebuilding their nest. Ospreys are very loyal to their nest sites and are believed to mate for life, so if both adults survive migration season, then it's likely they will return to the same nest year after year.
When cam watchers ask us if this is the same osprey pair as last year, it's not an easy question to answer since we've had a bit of a soap opera on our osprey platform.
For the first four years that we were on the Internet, we had what appeared to be the same reliable osprey couple at the nest, and then in the fifth year, that couple suddenly left the cam platform not long after returning north and took up residence at a nearby water platform.
Later we heard that our couple had returned to an old nest of theirs that had been taken down but was now restored. It seemed the couple remembered their old residence and made the move. After they did this, several different osprey couples battled over our cam platform, and the couple that won the fight spent the rest of the 2005 season on the cam nest. That pair went on to produce two fledglings, which we named Thunder and Lightning, since the family sat through a lot of turbulent weather that summer. But this new couple -- mainly the father -- was not nearly as skilled as our old couple, and they struggled to get both nestlings to fledging age.
We later heard that our former couple did not do well at their old water nest and did not produce any young that year -- possibly because of the sudden move to a different nest -- and so in 2006 we believe that our old couple returned to the cam platform where last year they hatched and fledged an amazing four chicks -- a Blackwater Refuge record! Quite a few of us at the Refuge honestly did not expect the fourth chick to make it, but the parents did a fantastic job in feeding all the chicks, and all were healthy when they fledged. We were convinced this must be our former, highly-competent couple.
As for the 2007 season, we don't know for sure if this is our couple from last year, although the mother has a necklace that is light in color like last year's mother. Necklaces are brown patterns that appear across the female's chest that indicate her sex. In North America, the necklace is normally a reliable indication of an adult female, as is the larger size of the female (about a third larger than the male). Unfortunately, since our female has a light necklace, many times it's hard to recognize her.
The Osprey Cam Location
Several cam watchers have asked about the location of the Osprey Cam. The birds are on a tall land platform that we built specifically for them. Behind them is a water impoundment area where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can control the amount of rainwater that collects -- that is the water you see in the background. In front of the platform is the Blackwater River -- where our ospreys and eagles get many of their meals. At ground level, the platform is near a small pond area where herons, ducks and turtles hang out. Sometimes you see the ospreys looking down at them.
Below are two photos that were taken near the Osprey Cam platform. The first photo shows the Wildlife Drive. On the right is the pond near the platform and on the left is the Blackwater River. In the second photo is a beautiful sunset shot showing the Blackwater River near the cam platform sunrise shot showing the local Blackwater wetlands. Much thanks to photographer Sid Keiser for loaning us these amazing photos. Click on the thumbnails for larger versions:
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Visitors to our Wildlife Drive at the Refuge can drive right by the Osprey Cam platform and see the ospreys, which are just off the road. Fortunately, ospreys are more flexible about nesting near people than bald eagles are, and the ospreys don't seem to mind hikers, cyclists, and cars going by their platform all day. There is a service road that leads to the platform -- this road is for employees only and we use it to reach the nest when it requires maintenance.
The platform is very high, and we have to rent a bucket truck from a local company before we can go up, so acquiring it is a big deal and we usually reserve that for emergencies with the cam equipment.
If you have more questions about the Osprey Cam, you might want to read our Osprey Cam Q&A page.
The New Cam Position
I know quite a few cam watchers are not thrilled about our new view, which came about when we recently installed a new camera and camera arm. Many cam watchers have said they miss seeing the sky and general surrounding area. Our cam technician has said that the next time he goes up to perform maintenance (after the chicks are old enough to be alone in the nest) he will try to adjust the cam so we can see the sky again.
In the meantime, one of the bonuses of the new cam position is that the cam is now a little farther from the platform. For those who were with us last year, you can appreciate what this means. Last year we had six ospreys in the nest at times and the poop was flying like rain. No sooner would we go up to clean the cam lens, then the ospreys would hit it again. One cam watcher joked that the chicks were doing it intentionally and were high-fiving each other with their wing tips every time they hit it. So this year, the cam is now farther away, and that might mean that we will be spared some of the very messy views that we had to put up with last year.
Also, I got quite a few emails today asking about the "brown things" in the nest. Those are clumps of sod that the ospreys bring in to line the inner nest. They also sometimes use them to cover the eggs once they arrive. If you remember back to the fall and spring -- when we saw grass growing in the platform bottom -- the sod is what produces the grass.
As for the eggs, last year we had our first egg on April 11, so we are getting close. A good indication of possible egg-laying activity is if we see the female actually sitting down in the nest all night long. This usually means she expects an egg very soon.
We thank everyone for joining us for another year with our very entertaining ospreys. And best of luck to the osprey family.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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