Bird Cams Around the World

Posted on Ches Conserv FB page approx. 11:00am
Chesapeake Conservancy:
It's a rainy chilly day at Tom & Audrey's nest. The Crazy Osprey Family reports that Tom departed the nest at 8:05, and the eggs have since been unattended. There is no sign of Tom or Audrey in the nearby trees or docks. The temperature was 47 degrees at 9:00 a.m

Audrey was away from the nest a lot yesterday - Tom was incubating...
There's been a lot of intruders around the nest this season - but this is Osprey country.... there are at least 15 nests in a 2 mile radius (by water)... so there are a slew of returning youngsters in addition to the residents and migrators...

I feel like I'm going to throw up...
This is the first nest I discovered... 3 years ago...

1:24pm
Still no Audrey or Tom

Uta just confirmed that Audrey hasn't been seen since 2:00pm yesterday when she left the nest alarming...

Ferenz, even he's calling Audrey and Tom...

Audrey is incubating at 3:00.

Thanks, obxbarb!


Audrey returned at 2:48pm.
Couldn't tell if there are any injuries - she just looks wet.

So the eggs were not covered, in the rain, temps 47-52F, from 8:05am to 2:48pm = almost 7 hours. Hatch watch begins May 23... I think it will be a miracle...
What do you think?

3:05pm

Audrey



Now where's Tom???

I know this area pretty well and there are so many ospreys I am sure it's a territorial issue, although its pretty late for that. I also administrate OspreyWatch for CCB and I'm getting questions from the website on this. It is chilly today, but they still may be ok. They would be ok if it was later in development, but just not sure here. Did this happen last year too, I know they didn't hatch?

Last year it was debatable "who the father was," as "Calico" Tom appeared on the scene after Audrey had mated with another male - so there was disturbance there. The eggs ended up being not viable - that's when FWS and Craig Koppie brought in the "foster chicks" from Poplar Island. Craig took 2 of the eggs (he left 1 egg) and replaced them with the 2 chicks... the eggs were supposed to be tested- but we never heard.
What is CCB?
Thanks!
(I'm in Severna Park - where are you?)

Added... I think I mentioned that there are 15+ nests within a 2 mile radius (by water)of the nest... I just read (on Dyfi, maybe) that 2014 - 2 year olds are returning now... so that explain some of the threats.

4:06pm - Audrey flew off again, hollering. More screeching could be heard in the background. She returned quickly.
Tom still has not returned to the nest.... gone since 8:05am this morning.

Beautiful pics, Ferenz!

Posted on FB approx. 4:30pm:
More off-camera drama at the osprey nest!
The Crazy Osprey Family reports that a big bald eagle is sitting in a nearby tree, and an osprey (Tom?? visitor??) is dive-bombing the eagle!

That sure explains a lot!!!

Eagles are much more territorial than ospreys and can keep ospreys from nesting if they are nearby. For sure, that is worse than another osprey.

CCB is Center for Conservation Biologyhttp://www.ccbbirds.org/ Here is Osprey Watch in case you would like to put any of your nests on there http://www.osprey-watch.org CCB works on endangered avian species mostly but are the global experts on bald eagles and probably peregrines.

5:35pm

Tom(left) brings Audrey a fish, she leaves with it immediately:



Oh, Lordy, and I can hear osprey (Audrey? female?) hollering in the background...
Audrey is home already... and I can still hear an osprey - maybe it's a neighbor???
(maybe I should turn my volume off!)

Thanks, obxbarb! I check Osprey Watch all the time, and have told many people about it.
All of the nests 'in my neighborhood' are on there; lots of people have platforms in their backyard (it's encouraged and there are even businesses devoted to it...).

Both are in the nest at 10:00 and things seem calm.

If I recall correctly, Tom and Audrey did not have their own in 2015 -
they fostered 2 young from elsewhere
and ... Foster .. the interloper

Yep - that's right, Shep!

New blog posted by Mrs. Com with excellent comments and photos.
https://ospreycamerablog.wordpress.com/ ... ful-noise/

I've copied the experts' comments re the 7 hours during the cool rainy day that the eggs were not incubated:

"Dr. Spitzer’s comments:
We don’t really know much about vulnerability of osprey eggs to prolonged cooling early during incubation. So once again you may be extending Osprey Science. Of course, if they do resume incubation you will have to wait until term for Proof of the Pudding. Then do as last year if necessary.

Julie Zickefoose, in her recent book “The Bluebird Effect” (Houghton Mifflin, available via Kindle for $10, which may not do justice to her splendid artwork) has an excellent chapter on her long-term work with Tree Swallow nests. In rotten weather, these (largely) insectivores may abandon incubation for several days–then resume under more favorable conditions, with continuing egg viability. This book also has an excellent osprey chapter.

Of course this is an epic run of rotten weather. Generally ospreys just hunker down for that long incubation, despite their recent return from the tropics. Early bad weather doesn’t appear in egg viability data as a problem, as far as I know–I am copying three long-term osprey colleagues (Poole, Scheibel, and Bierregaard) on this. There is general agreement that prolonged wet, cold weather post-hatch does substantially depress nestling survival. But little nest abandonment (that we know of) under current, albeit rather arduous, incubation conditions.
Dr. Bierregaard’s comments:
Sounds to me like something happened to Audrey. Has she been seen today? 18 hours on the nest for a male is very strange.
I’ve seen birds off of eggs in really miserable, cold, rainy, windy weather for at least 2 hours and all eggs hatched. Ospreys have a very thin down layer and females do not have brood patches, so Osprey eggs never really get all that warm under incubating adults. I believe this explains their very prolonged (38 days or so) incubation period, which is about a week longer than similar sized raptors—a real outlier on the curve.
Good luck!
Of course, our dear friend and raptor biologist Craig Koppie has offered to help find foster chicks for our nest again this year if we suffer a repeat of last season’s failure to hatch. I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it."

Among many other things, I didn't know that Osprey don't have brood patches!

Added: Today is the 17th straight day of rain in the area!