It appears our osprey nest has failed this season. Yesterday, April 7, I checked the nest early morning around 6:15 and KS was fine. I was away on business all day and checked the nest this morning and KS had disappeared. A blogger wrote in (see comments on previous post) that he could see no eggs or chick yesterday early evening.
It was unfortunate to not have all the eggs hatch, but to have the only chick die is discouraging. We checked around the base of the tower and did not find any evidence of egg shells or of the chick. Upon observing the center of the nest there is a gap from which the chick and eggs most likely fell through. We've noticed Bea pull on a twig/branch that was centered within the nest and her persistence may have lead to the instability of the center of the nest.
We are not 100% sure this happened, but most likely it has. So unfortunately our 2016 osprey season is over. The pair should maintain the nest for the rest of this year and hopefully we'll have a successful 2017.
As always our camera will remain active so you can continue to watch Bea and Jasper.
11 comments:
I'm so sad to read this news.
A saved pic last night at 19:59:59. It's not clear but I think KS and one egg were in the nest.
This morning this spot was covered with moss.
Olga. ON.
Hey Olga,
We all are saddened by this as well. Thanks for your comment and keep watching Bea and Jasper. Maybe they will reinforce the nest this summer.
Ohh, muy triste por la noticia(:
El año pasado hubo tres nuevos osprey, esperemos otros dos o tres la próxima temporada!
Oh no :(
I have a photo from 4/6 late day.
Both parents and baby were fine.
Many thanks for the 2016 coverage-we
sure appreciate the Palmetto family
@ the Hilton Head office.
Beth/Oh
Will keep watching, but this is so sad :-(
Vivian, GA
IS it possible that a snake or hawk or other predator got KG?
We doubt a snake got KS as the tower is 100' tall and we've never seen any animals, snakes, etc. climb the tower. A hawk is possible, but with the hole that was seen in the center of the nest it's most likely KS fell through.
Hi
What happend with two other eggs?
Olga
It appeared that neither of the eggs were viable as the chicks never hatched. The two eggs also fell through the nest.
Is it possible Bea & Jasper will try another set this year?
Ospreys have one brood a year. Though since they lost their clutch the pair has begun mating again. We've never read of an osprey pair having more than one brood per season.
If anyone knows differently please let us know.
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