The two photos are from May 6 and today, May 19th. It's amazing how fast the chicks have grown in such a short amount of time. We are now seeing the emergence of pin feathers replacing the down the chicks had when they hatched. Pin feathers, also known as blood feathers, are rolled and protected inside a tubular sheath that contain blood vessels that nourish the feather's growth. More so on MKD than TE at this time are the signs of the rusty-golden pin feathers around the head and neck. When the feathers have developed and break the the sheath, the protective tube will fall away or the chick may remove them while preening. Dark body feathers will emerge followed by the primary and secondary feathers, and finally the outer wing and tail feathers will appear at about 20 - 25 days. At about one month old the chicks growth will slow and they will be around 70% - 80% of their full-grown body weight and their feathers will have a tan tip, indicating a juvenile osprey.
18 comments:
Thank you to the Moderator........that was a very enlightening post.
8:32 what is going on in the nest?
Both parents are there, and the one on the right appears to be on top of a rather large dark object. A fish of some kind? Another bird?
Peter
Good morning Peter,
That is a nice, big flounder!
Huge!
Thanks.
Peter
Thanks for the great pictures showing the chicks' growth and the explanation so we will know what we are looking at. It's good to see the chicks doing so well and the dad bringing in a good supply of fish. And let's not forget the mom who is doing a marvelous job!
Vivian
Yes indeed, I agree with Vivian!
Marvelous parents, updates, photos.
Now...move back from the nestedge little ones :(
Beth/Oh
Great photos and information. They are a little close to the edge today, hope Mom/Dad keep a good watch on them and move them back a little. Not much room for error if they get over the rim edge of sticks.
By the way if any of you are also watching the Loch of Lowes nest in Scotland they expect first egg hatching possibly to be tomorrow.
Lynne/HHP
It is so amazing that Bea gets in position to create shade for the chicks and does this as the sun moves from East to West all day long! Wow.
New nesting material this morning. Is it the shadows, or is Jasper building up the edges of the nest? I hope so. Those little ones are moving around more now.
Vivian
Good morning,
Both Bea and Jasper are building up the nest wall. The chicks have definitely become more mobile.
Good, they are too close to the edge. It's 145pm....I see a fresh pine cone, dessert maybe........LOL.
Lynne/HHP
Ditto to Lynne -- too close to the left corner of the platform!
The parents keep landing with fish at the edges of the nest, so the increasingly mobile young 'uns move to the food of course.
Just saw a fresh fish delivery about two minutes ago, in the MIDDLE of the nest. Hopefully the action will re-center toward this direction.
Have a good weekend, ospreys and humans!
Peter
935am Sat, one of the chicks is just too curious and brave, it was up onto the sticks in upper left, that area is way too close to the edge of the platform. 2nd parent flew in and baby turned back into the bowl.
Just curious, how high is the rim to sticks around the edge? 6-10 inches? or less.
The Loch camera is down, they are recording nest to post on YTube but so far no hatching yet.
Lynne/HHP
The nest is positioned along the the platform's eastern edge, camera side. Opposite from the camera the nest appears to be about a foot or more from the platform edge and the southwest side, left, the nest edge appears to be within 6 inches to one foot.
Thanks Moderator for this nice blog.
Per Lynne's and others' concerns about the chicks moving to The Left on us (is Hilton Head know for its leftist tendencies?), could you zoom the camera out a bit or re-center it to the left? Sometimes the chicks and the parents are hardly in the shot.
Thanks.
Have a good weekend.
Peter
Peter,
The camera is zoomed all the way out. The nest was constructed along the eastern side of the platform, close to the camera so you get the "zoomed in" effect. The camera overhangs the platform about a foot. We are looking for a bracket that will move the camera back from the platform so the entire nesting area could be in full view. We may have to build a bracket ourselves if we can not find one that does not interfere with the communications equipment on the tower.
Thanks for the camera feedback.
Now -- two little puddin's asleep in the setting sun. Amazing how much they grow every day, their feet especially.
No parents on nest right now.
Peter
1pm Monday, finally caught a parent feeding the chicks, chubby little things, they sure grow quickly.
Loch of Lowes in Scotland still waiting for eggs to hatch, it's very windy there, but they say nest is stable. Nestcam problems seem to be resolved at the moment.
Lynne/HHP
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