Thursday, May 27, 2010

Osprey Update

Each morning as we drive home from the gym, we take a short detour to look up at the Osprey Family as the sun is just beginning to break. Each day is the same, the babies are crying, the mother is sitting on the edge of the nest and the daddy is sitting on a pole 10 feet away waiting for it to get light enough to FISH for his family. Yesterday we burst out laughing because the mommy and daddy were both sitting on the pole 10 feet away, staring away from the next of babies and waiting for the sun. It was as though the mother said, I can't stand that nest another minute with all that yapping,
 archive photos of Osprey (fish hawk family) I am unable to get a closeup of the current Osprey due to height of the poles they live on. this one rested on a short light pole back in 2007
Facts I found online while researching to teach about Osprey's at the nursing home where I am a volunteer.
* They eat only fish
* A grown osprey needs up to 3 fish a day, when feeding a family, the male must bring 8 or more fish to the nest per day
* They mate for life (no divorce in these families) and use the same nest for years and years.
* Typical nest weighs 1000 pounds, but will not hold anything heavier than the birds.
* Polluting our enviroment with fishing line, plastic bags and baloons kills many of the babies because the parents use it for lining the nest.
* They are on the endangered list because we have fished out the hunting waters and poisoned the water and the fish with polluants that poison the fish they eat and kills them if they eat the fish
*Baby Osprey leave the nest at 2 months old, the mother throws the fish on the edge of the nest and gets them used to standing there, then she throws the food off the nest, litteraly teaching them to fly or nothing to eat. to see the nest, click on links below


If you missed the beginning of this story the first of May Click Here
archive of first Osprey photos from 07 Click Here

9 comments:

DawnTreader said...

I remember your previous post this year. Must be fun to be able to follow them even if annoying that they are too far away for the camera. Your photos from 07 are amazing!

Anonymous said...

I like the osprey story and the pictures. Good blog.
Carole

Ginny Hartzler said...

One thousand pounds????? You didn't mean one hundred pounds? How can a bunch of sticks weigh that much? That's got to top anything else that I hear today. I love the way the mom teaches the babies to leave the nest!!

Catherine said...

Very interesting, especially about the weight of the nest. Love your stories.

SquirrelQueen said...

Great post Sandra, Osprey are such interesting birds. I am enjoying your updates, maybe you will see the little ones soon. I'm a like Ginny, did you really mean 1000 lbs?

We saw one on our way out of Idaho, he was way up high. I will have to post the photo soon, he was so cool.

Dawning Inspiration said...

Yowza!!! Thanks for sharing!!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Interesting facts about the Osprey. Great pictures also.
Hugs,
Betsy

Kilauea Poetry said...

I love these photos..what a cute story! I raised three Myna birds from babies and are they noisy!! I plunk them outside so they can take water baths during the day. But hall them in in the afternoon! Well they try to jabber louder than you if you raise your voice. This is terrific Sandra-thanks for the amusing update-

Unknown said...

How fun, to keep an eye on this little family. Funny that mom needed a rest; don't all moms have unlimited patience? ;o)