Incoming! This appears to be the dad with a fish. The two babies are visible in the nest by the mom. One young osprey is looking away while the other youngster is looking towards the camera.
Incoming! The two babies are just visible by mom in the nest.
This was today. After work and an appointment I stopped by for a short time to view the nest. We had some sun today, but also clouds. In the later afternoon/ early evening facing towards this nest is almost facing the sun. It makes for bad light. Someday maybe I will get photos like this in the morning.
The Osprey babies stuck their heads above the top of the nest several times today. I could not get them in sharp focus. This is with a zoom lens and heavily cropped. When they grow bigger I hope to get some better images. Most of the time I was looking at the nest I did not see them, and sometimes I saw one head. I have a few images where two heads were visible. They are very small. Have a great Monday!
We continue to have a lot of rainy days. I did view the osprey in between storms. No baby osprey heads visible yet as of Friday night. This nest is deep.
Sizing Up Dinner
In the above picture it appears the female osprey is sizing up the fish the male is bringing in.
Sizing up dinner- Battle Scars?
The above piture appears to be the male. He has some white areas on his wing. I wonder if that is normal or batle scars from chasing off eagles and other osprey or them chasing him.
Sizing up dinner- This fish he appears to ate completely himself. I believe I was told this one is a herring.
The fishermen wanted to see what fish the osprey was bringing in, so I showed them the back of my camera. I think it was this image. They thought it was a herring based on what they saw in the back of my camera. The one fisherman said he was using herring as bait to catch stripper.
Here’s hoping we get some clear days. Here’s hoping we will get a clear night or two. They are saying here that Sunday night has a possibility to be a great night to see the Northern Lights, if it is not cloudy and everything pans out as they are thinking. Happy Sunday!
I went to watch the osprey from one nest and low and behold these Marine helicopters flew by. Are these Osprey helicopters? That would be too funny if they were.
Osprey of Another Kind?
There were 6-8 of these flying by twos south along the Hudson River towards New York City. I had a zoom lens on and could not get the total number in one photograph. I am guessing they are getting ready for Memorial Day tomorrow.
Osprey of Another Kind?
All gave some; some gave all.
Howard William Osterkamp, Korean War veteran US Army
Remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the armed forces.
I still have not seen a baby osprey’s head yet peeking over the nest. The male is bringing in more sticks and fish to the nest.
Sticks and Fish
According to All About Birds the incubation period for the eggs is between 36-42 days. We have experienced some very windy days, so more sticks may be for repairs due to weather.
Sticks and Fish
It is said the females are the ones who primarily incubate the eggs while the males bring in the fish for the female. They say the male will watch the nest when the female goes out to wash. I have see her do short circle flights where it appears she is stretching her wings. Hopefully soon we will see the young osprey. If you are in the US have a great Memorial Day weekend.
I thought two adults were already in the nest I was watching today. People kept stopping to talk and ask questions, so maybe I missed the mate leaving. However, this adult coming to the nest was an intruder, probably from the other nest that was within sight.
Intruder and Pursuit – Intruder is approaching the nest
From the pictures you can see the one osprey in the nest looks quite perturbed. The other adult osprey was laying low in the nest. The intruder actually landed on the nest for a few seconds.
Intruder and Pursuit- Both do not look happy
Then one of the adults from the nest went in hot pursuit. Luckily for me some of the action was fairly close, and I was able to capture some shots.
Intruder and Pursuit
The adult from the nest chased him in circles in front of me. Meanwhile the mate in the nest was loudly protesting, or were they cheering their mate on?
Intruder and Pursuit
Although it appears they got fairly close at some points, it does not looks like from any of my images that any blood was shed. Not sure if they even actually touched each other.
Intruder and Pursuit
Eventually they flew farther away over land chasing each other in the direction of another body of water. I thought these two nests were getting along, but there was drama today. I hope your week is drama free.
I finally got to go down to view this nest in the morning. It was a sunny day with little clouds. Early morning in those conditions can make for some good light.
Osprey Bridge Fly-By
Did not see him catch a fish, but had some nice fly-by shots.
Osprey Bridge Fly-By
As the temperatures get warmer, get out and enjoy the weather before it gets too hot. Have a great Tuesday!
The is the first morning I made it to this location. I usually stop by this spot on the Hudson River on my way home from work. I am usually facing the sun at those times when I face the nest. In the morning the sun is behind you. I was really hoping to get a shot in good light of an osprey bringing in a fish. In the 4 hours I was there no fish were brought in. I did see a stick brought in multiple times. I guess they were doing DIY (Do it yourself) nest repair.
Osprey DIY Repairs p- A short stick
Both of the sticks I am showing they picked up floating in the river. We have experienced a lot of rain lately and some flooding. There is a lot of debris in the river.
Osprey DIY Repairs – Bringing in a floating stick or vine from the river
I like the above picture because it appears he is looking right at me. You can see the head of the mate appearing just above the nest on the right side. The nest is deep and so far I am not seeing the heads of any young osprey, so I have to assume they have not hatched yet. I hope you had a great Mother’s Day if you live in the U.S. Have a great week.
Poor osprey! The eagles chase him to steal the fish. The fish crows chase him. He gets no respect.
Gimme!
He was on his way back to the nest with a partially eaten fish.
Gimme!
When low and behold a crow started chasing him.
Gimme!
The chase went on for quite. distance. The crow never had contact with the osprey. Maybe he thought better of it.
Gimme! The head of the mother is just visible in the nest.
The osprey made it back to the nest. He is better at bringing a fish over to the nest. If she wants a piece she bites off one, and he flies to a nearby spot to finish it off. Looks like this one was already partially eaten before he stopped by the nest. Have a Happy Thursday!
Due to some trees obstructing my view, I did not see the osprey dive into the water to get this fish. However, I saw an encounter between the osprey and a crow.
No, You Can’t Have Some!
The osprey went from catching the fish to one of its favourite perching trees.
No, You Can’t Have Some!
Shortly thereafter, a crow came and landed on the same tree very close to the osprey. The osprey then looked in my direction. It looks like the osprey is peeved while the crow is trying to plead for a scrap. I am wondering if the osprey is thinking can you believe this? When I entered this image to identify the crow, Merlin only suggests a fish crow for it.
No, You Can’t Have Some!
The crow gave up and flew off to sit on the rocks nearby and the osprey ate probably more than half of the fish.
No, You Can’t Have Some!
Then off it flew towards the nest with the leftovers. Here’s hoping it shared with it’s mate. Happy Friday!
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