Technical Difficulties

We are experiencing some transmission and operation difficulties with the webcam.  It will take some on site maintenance...climbing up to the camera and transmitter to fix the situation.  SOOOOO, stay tuned.  We want to get the camera operating again so we can experience winter wildlife on the refuge


And, YES, the ospreys have left...headed south for the winter.

Fishin' & Wishin' Preparing to Head South

Fishen' & Wishin' are still using the nest as home base and will continue to do so until they migrate in September. The female adult usually migrates first, while the male adult remains behind to help the young with meals. The male will migrate about the same time as the young, which is a few weeks after the mother, depending on the chicks' development. All but the southernmost breeding populations in North America are migratory, vacating their breeding grounds in late summer for rain-forest rivers and fish-rich seacoasts and lakes of Central and South America.

Empty Nest - Young are fledging

Fishin' & Wishin' have officially fledged.  They leave the nest then return again.  Yesterday when I looked only one was on the nest.   Today there was an empty nest early in the morning then both were back later on with one of the parents. They will continue hanging around the nest area and learning how to fly and fish for the next month.

Young difficult to tell from parents

The young ospreys are the same size as their parents now.  If you watch the webcam often enough you will see Fishin' or Wishin' extending their long wings and exercising them in preparation for their first flight which should be within the next 2 or 3 weeks.

Can you tell which of the 4 ospreys are the two young birds?

FISHIN' & WISHIN' GROWING UP

Fishin' & Wishin' are growing rapidly and taking on the look of their parents.  The parents are bringing in several fish a day to keep up with the appetites of their offspring.

Names Chosen for Osprey Chicks

Thanks to all of you who submitted suggested names for the osprey chicks.  An impartial Judge who will remain anonymous has declared the winning names to be:

Fishin' & Wishin'

Names for the Osprey Chicks

So far the following names have been submitted for our two chicks:
Fred & Wilma
Mickey & Minnie
Bonnie & Clyde
Nova & Flight
Blinken & Nod
Bobble & Wobble

Send in your ideas or vote on the formentioned names by July 8th.
Send responses to ospreydeerflat@gmail.com

Two Young Confirmed

I was recently watching the parent ospreys ripping pieces of fish flesh and feeding it to their two young which are growing at a rapid rate.  I was able to capture the feeding behavior with the webcam as seen below.  rcc

Bald Eagles at Refuge Fledge One Young

JUST A NOTE OF INTEREST:  The bald eagle pair which nest west of the visitor center have fledged one young this month.  The other pair on the east end of the lake have possibly fledged at least one young, but it was not observed.

 Bald Eagle Fledgling on Narrows/North Side Nest 6/21/13

We have at least TWO Chicks

I was just watching the video feed and could see the wobbley heads of two chicks sticking up above the bowl of the nest, begging for attention/food.  Keep watching....there may be another 1 or 2 young ones in the nest.   rcc

We Have Osprey Chicks!

The parents are now feeding the young that have hatched.  Keep watching to see how many young they are raising.  We won't know until they can raise their heads above the bowl of the nest.

We hare having webcam issues

WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE WEBCAM NOT WORKING THIS PAST WEEK.  FIBERPIPE FOLKS ARE WORKING WITH GEM STATE COMMUNICATIONS TO SEE IF THEY CAN GET A BROADER BAN WIDTH SO THE CAMERA IMAGE CAN BE MORE CONSISTENT VIA THE INTERNET LINK.  SO, BE PATIENT.  MEANWHILE THE OSPREY CHICKS SHOULD BE HATCHING ANY TIME NOW. rcc

The Osprey pair is now incubating eggs.  The male and female take turns on the nest while the other brings in fresh fish for their meals.  Incubation began about May 1st.  So, we expect to have the eggs hatching near June 5th.  

The Osprey pair is back together after a long winter away from their nesting territory.  We should see some busy work on the nest now and egg laying within a couple of weeks.  Stay tuned and enjoy the show.

The male osprey is back at his post bringing new sticks to the nest as of March 29, 2013.  His mate should show up sometime within this next week.  As you have noticed the webcam site has been revised to be more compatible with various apps....thanks to our friends at Fiberpipe.