Today is the first day that either Bea or Jasper has not incubated the overdue eggs. The pair continued incubation for over a month after the hatching timeframe. The chicks should have hatched the first full week of April. We believe that the eggs weren't fertile. 

The pair should remain on the platform to retain ownership of the site throughout the summer.

Unfortunately for the pair, Bea and Jasper, they will not have any chicks to raise this summer. The chicks should have hatched the first full week of April. Today marks the 59th day since the 3rd egg was laid and the 54th day for the 4th egg. This is a first for the pair to not have any chicks hatch. The last two years the chicks and eggs fell through the nest leaving the pair with no offspring. As you may recall the first and second egg were from a different male.

So why didn't the eggs hatch? Osprey eggs fail due to it either being infertile or nonviable. Infertile eggs occur when the ovum (egg) is not fertilized before it begins its journey down the female's oviduct. Ospreys copulate frequently before and during egg laying, which helps assure that sperm is present at the right time (when the ovum arrives). Incomplete, poorly timed, or insufficient copulations can result in unfertilized eggs.

A nonviable egg occurs when an embryo fails to develop properly and dies. This can happen for many reasons:

•  Insufficient incubation. Eggs must be kept at a proper temperature and turned often. Temperature is vital for development to begin. Eggs must be exposed to temperatures between 99 and 104 degrees°F. Turning eggs prevents the developing embryo from sticking to the side of the egg and provides fresh nutrients for proper development.
• A cracked shell. If the egg shell is pierced or cracked before the embryo is fully developed, it will die. This can be from the egg being stepped on or jostled to vigorously.
• Bacteria or chemical contamination. Contaminants can make their way into an egg and impede or kill the embyro. 

Bea and Jasper will likely cover the eggs where they will break apart and decompose. We are not sure how long the pair will continue to incubate the eggs. After so many years of successful osprey seasons, it's hard to believe we are in our third consecutive year with no juvenile ospreys to see fledge. It is our conclusion that the eggs failed due to infertility.

Today marks the 48th day since the 3rd egg was laid. Chicks normally hatch 34 - 42 days after being laid. It's very possible that these eggs are not viable. We keep watching and wishing the pair the best of luck.

Our cam is back up. Thank you for your patience. :)

https://www.palmetto.coop/osprey-habitats/
 

We were just informed that our website was moved to new servers last night, so the osprey cam is down until we are given the new server credentials to send the osprey images. Hope to have it back up soon.

Bea and Jasper are just a few weeks away from the chicks hatching. March 28 and March 31 will mark the fifth week for the 3rd and 4th eggs. Other than Jasper bringing in fish and then assisting with incubation, not much has been happening at the platform.
 

Today marks the second week since the third egg was laid and eleven days for the fifth egg. We don't anticipate the third egg being viable as it was not incubated for several days. The third egg is the mostly brown one.

We believe we could see some chicks after April 11th, which begins the 35th day since the first egg being laid. We haven't had any osprey chicks the last two years so we are anxiously awaiting the month of April.

We have another osprey that is attempting to land on the platform. Currently Jasper is away from the nest leaving Bea to fight off the intruder. Upon writing this Jasper has returned. 

The intruder osprey has been flying about the nest for about an hour now causing the pair a bit of stress. Bea is back to incubating the eggs.

Bea has laid her fourth egg, the second for the pair, Saturday, February 24th. the 3rd egg was laid February 21st. Initially Bea laid two eggs from a previous male, but those eggs were not incubated. The two cinnamon colored eggs are from Jasper. The brown egg is from the first male and not viable. 

Below is Jasper from this morning with the eggs. 

 

Bea has laid another egg. It is possible this egg could be produced from Jasper. The dark cinnamon colored egg is the latest egg. Bea or Jasper could push the older egg away from the nest cup since it is no longer viable.

Bea seldom incubated her first two eggs, but has immediately incubated this egg and continues to do so.

Bea laid a second egg Friday late afternoon egg - 4:20pm. This egg is undoubtedly from the male that was on the nest in January. The 1st egg is broken and the 2nd egg is being covered over. As Jasper and Bea continue to mate we await a second clutch.

 

Will the real Jasper please stand up. 

Yesterday while observing the nest, it dawned on us that the male osprey appeared different than the male that had been on the nest since January 26th. Upon closer inspection of photos, much closer, we discovered that we were wrong in announcing Jasper’s arrival in January. He actually came to the platform February 14th. Such timing, right? :) The photos we took of the latest male matched Jasper's eye marks and markings on and around his beak. As past observers may remember we do not band the ospreys that frequent our communications tower so we are left to matching photographs, which isn’t a perfect science. 

Yesterday the male was witnessed hunched over with his back to Bea. That posture is what threw us off. Why would Jasper be mantling with Bea at this point in time? So back to past photos we went. The markings between the males are similar, but when we took better pictures of the newest male, it was evident that we misidentified the first male osprey as Jasper. Sorry for the confusion. 

Now the real Jasper and Bea have settled down and have begun to mate. Bea is back and forth on the nest so we are hopeful she continues on at the platform.

As quickly as the first egg appeared, we may have already lost it. Bea did not incubate the egg most of this morning and apparently did not do so last night either.  As of this post she is sitting on the egg, but most likely it is too late. We will have to wait and see. 

 

Not sure what is happening with the first egg. Bea has not been incubating it for most of the day. It is possible the egg is not viable. Currently a crow is checking out the egg.

We have our first egg of the 2018 season. Longtime viewer, Beth, noticed the egg last night about 6:47. I have to admit I didn’t think the pair would have an egg this early since Jasper arrived only less than three weeks ago.

In the past eight years Bea has laid her first egg on the following dates:

12 Feb
17 Feb
16 Feb
2 Mar
7 Mar
13 Mar
24 Mar
25 Mar

Bea seems a bit unsettled this morning as she flew off and left the egg momentarily unattended until Jasper flew to the platform. 

We finally obtained photos that we can match to previous years and can announce that Jasper is back. He arrived January 26th, but we weren't sure it was him, due to his back facing the camera.

The pair has been quite busy this morning restoring the nest by bringing in sticks and spanish moss. A few attempts at mating has taken place now that Jasper's submissive posturing has lessened. Below are a few pics from this morning showing their work.

We still have yet to confirm that the male osprey on the nest is definitely Jasper. But Bea's acceptance of him on the platform makes us believe it may be him. The photos we have taken are not good enough yet to match up to previous seasons. The male has attempted to mate, but Bea has shrugged off his advances. His back is normally to her so they may still be in courtship mode.

The male osprey we spotted a few days back has returned. Unfortunately, we can't obtain a good enough photo to compare to previous photographs of Jasper. Bea hasn't been too aggressive towards the male, but continues to force him away from the platform. If it is Jasper, maybe a fish will seal the deal. :)

We are not positive if Jasper has returned, but another osprey landing on the nest at 10:08 this morning then quickly departed. We'll be observing the tower for any osprey other than Bea and will report back as soon as we can obtain photos to check out markings, etc.

Welcome to the 2018 Season

Welcome to Palmetto Electric’s 2018 Osprey Cam season! With the arrival of Bea on January 16^th, we are anticipating a successful breeding season. As we await Jasper’s return, this will be the pairs eighth season and marks our eleventh season broadcasting our nest from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

The last two years Bea and Jasper lost a total of seven eggs and one chick. The nest’s interior was not built up, therefore; the chick and eggs fell through the fencing. On October 18, 2017, a crew installed construction cloth, which is a wire grid that is welded together at each cross section. The cloth abuts directly beneath the fencing. This should prevent any of the previous year’s mishaps and assist with fortifying the platform.

We thank you for joining us for another osprey season at Palmetto Electric and we look forward to seeing fledging ospreys.

Below is a photo of Bea that was taken this morning.