We had a different osprey on the nest this morning. He/she didn't hang aroung very long, a few minutes. The osprey gallery has been updated with the recent 2010 photos.

We had another osprey on our nest around 3:15 pm. I've yet to check out the markings to verify whether or not it is the male osprey, Benecio.

A few more pictures from the Shandy Point cam. It looks like an owl to me.

At the Shandy Point nest it looks as though they currently have an owl as a resident.

Just a few minutes ago we had our first osprey on the nest in January. We're unable to identify the osprey at this time, due to the angle of the head. We have to check against past year photos to make a match.

We'll add to this post as activity increases.
=)
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Welcome to the 2010 Osprey Season

This posting opens our 2010 Osprey Season blog and begins our fourth season here at Palmetto Electric. As of a month ago, December 2, 2009 to be exact, we had an adult eagle and a juvenile, most likely its offspring, on the nest a few times throughout the day. Pictures of the eagles can be viewed on our 2009 gallery page. We also had an osprey on the nest earlier that day as well. We haven’t noticed any additional birds on the nest other than crows since that time.

Last year we had our first clutch of eggs hatch and we were fortunate to see the young osprey grow into juveniles with the exception of the youngest chick, which died in its fifth week. A year ago our osprey couple returned mid January so their arrival could be anytime. In June of 2009 we held a contest to name our new resident pair and the winning names were Bella and Benecio.

Our nest is located midway on Hilton Head Island and sits upon a 100 foot tower. Many viewers in the past have wondered what the red light is that intermittently glows at night. That beacon is for FCC purposes since our tower is situated within a quarter mile or so of our local airport.

We are excited about this upcoming osprey season and welcome all of our viewers and bloggers in inviting Bella and Benecio back and to hopefully watch their family grow!