Bea and Jasper are no longer incubating their three eggs as they have covered them over with sticks and spanish moss. The pair remains on the platform. They have been mating since abandoning their first clutch of eggs. We'll continue watching Bea and Jasper and see what unfolds with the pair.
4 comments:
Did you observe them covering the eggs? Wonder if they were destroyed by a predator.
We did notice Bea moving Spanish Moss about the eggs and then we saw the eggs through the moss.
Good as this nest is part of the HHI osprey watch program (which I co-coordinate) and I was concerned the eggs were gone. We’ve had this happen with another nest this year that has a camera.
This is unfortunate. Since they were observed covering the eggs, it would indicate a predator didn't get the eggs. Since they are not sitting on the eggs, even though they are covered, they will not hatch. Osprey only lay eggs once (over several days) so no more eggs will be laid this season. While I am NOT a scientist, I have a lot of experience coordinating an osprey watch program for years. One thought is that the pair sensed the eggs were not fertile or maybe that they were not viable. There is info on line about Osprey either hiding or tossing such eggs from the nest. Another wonder is if something is going on with the fish that comprise the bulk of their diet. The Osprey Watch program started because fishermen wanted to monitor osprey to see how fish were doing.
Again, I have no specific data, but if there is something in the fish (pollutant, chemical) that is ingested into the adult osprey, might it produce eggs that are not really fertilized or not viable? If so, could the parents tell? Thank goodness for this camera so we can see they buried them. Otherwise we would be wondering if there really were egg.
Again, just the thoughts of a non-scientist.
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