Palmetto Electric Osprey Blog

2012-02-14T14:13:00.000-05:00

The new pair on the tower has begun to mate as of today - that we have noticed.

Courtship in ospreys centers on food and nest sites. In migratory osprey populations, males and females arrive at the nest site separately, the male often arriving several days earlier than the female. Male ospreys sometimes perform a conspicuous aerial display near the nest site. This display usually occurs during early courtship, and may serve to attract potential mates or to threaten an intruder. Both sexes collect materials for the nest, but the female does most of the arranging of materials at the nest. Osprey nests are typically constructed of sticks, and lined with softer materials such as seaweed, kelp, grasses or cardboard.

Once a pair has established a nest, the male begins to deliver food to the female. Generally, females that receive more food are more receptive to mating attempts by the male, and are less likely to copulate with other males. Females beg for food from their mates, and occasionally from neighboring males if they are not well fed by their mate.

The breeding season of ospreys differs between populations. Non-migratory populations breed in the winter and spring, laying eggs between December and March. The breeding season of migratory populations occurs in the spring and summer, with egg laying in April and May.

2012-02-08T11:05:00.002-05:00

The male osprey that has been frequenting our nest the past several days appears to be new to the platform. We don't have any photos from 2008 - 2011 of a male osprey with the same head markings as this male.

A few new materials such as pine cones and twigs are appearing on the nest so the new male is attempting to take ownership of the platform for the 2012 season. The new male will have to defend the nest if last year's couple returns.

2012-02-01T14:08:00.004-05:00

We have our first osprey of 2012 on the nest at 2 p.m.

2012-02-01T06:47:00.000-05:00

2012 Osprey Season

We want to welcome all of our cam watchers to a new osprey season at Palmetto Electric. This year marks our sixth web cam season from Hilton Head Island, SC and the fifth season for the osprey blog where our viewers can post comments about our nest and other osprey sites around the world.

Our nest is located on Mathews Drive and sits upon a 100 foot communications tower. The tower is situated within a quarter mile or so of our local airport. A beacon light to the right of the cam glows intermittently at night; therefore, we do not broadcast night images due to the glare of the beacon. The ospreys don’t seem affected by the beacon’s illumination since they’ve been nesting on the platform since the mid 1980's. Before the platform was installed the osprey built nests on the cross arms of the tower which often came apart and fell to the ground.

In the past viewers have asked why we don’t band the osprey. The communications tower, which is regulated by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), is required to have a technician that is certified with antenna, tower climbing, and rescue skills. The problem is there isn’t anyone in the area that is certified to climb our communications tower and also knowledgeable of osprey to band them.

Last year we had a new adult pair, named Bea and Jasper, at the nest with their two chicks, MKD and TE, successfully fledging. Over the last few years we have had new pairs take control of the platform so we’ll have to see if Bea and Jasper return or if a new couple settle on the tower.

If you’re new to ospreys, check out our Osprey FAQ page as well as our Osprey Photo Gallery for pictures from past seasons.

Thanks for joining us and we hope to see another successful osprey season!

2011-07-12T09:20:00.001-04:00

Looking Back To The 2011 Season

Our season began mid January when the first osprey was spotted on the nest. In less than a month’s time a new pair had established themselves on the platform without any of last year’s interference from other ospreys. The new male spent little time in repairing the nest, which was a major undertaking since the nest was left unoccupied from 2010 and was practically bare. The pair worked on nest building, though their construction skills left much to be appreciated. By the look of the nests construction, it could be surmised that this was a young breeding pair.

Throughout February and into late March the pair mated and continued nest building and on March 26^th the first egg was laid. The second egg was laid March 29^th and the third was laid on the 31^st. During late March we had tremendous lightning and thunderstorms and it was very encouraging to see that the female was not frightened off and stayed with their eggs.

In April we named our pair Bea and Jasper, which was submitted by Beth from Ohio. The weather improved and Bea and Jasper took turns incubating their clutch of three eggs.

On May 4^th the first egg hatched at 9:38 a.m. and the chick was named MKD. May 5^th brought us the second chick, TE, which hatched around 6:40 p.m and the third chick, MT, hatched May 7^th around 10:13 a.m. With three hungry chicks Jasper’s hunting skills quickly took center stage and he didn’t disappoint by bringing in several Mullet each day. Unfortunately, six days into MT’s life, the third chick, Jasper flew in carrying a stick and inadvertently lifted MT up by the neck and carried him to the edge of the nest. MT fell from the tower and did not survive the 100’ fall.

As May progressed so did the two chicks with the eldest, MKD, showing a bit of aggression towards TE and on occasion its mother Bea. Not a good idea to bite the beak that feeds you. By late May, MKD and TE became very mobile and moved about the platform with ease. With their increased mobility and size it was inevitable that one of them would hit our camera while relieving itself and our view of the osprey family was blurred for most of June which was unfortunate because we missed their development from small chicks to juveniles.

By late June rain finally came to the island and cleared the camera lens in time for us to see the majestic juveniles in their buff feathers and exercising their wings in anticipation of fledging. By the first full week of July the two juveniles had successfully fledged. Currently, Bea and Jasper are maintaining residency of the platform before possibly migrating southward. We do have a few ospreys that stay over the winter so we’ll have to see what this pair will do.

We would like to thank all of our viewer’s and bloggers for their support and comments. The cam will continue to be online throughout the remainder of the year unless we have maintenance to perform. As osprey migration begins in about a month for our northern states and Canada we may see ospreys stopping off for a rest along the East Coast so keep watching for any interesting birds that might visit the tower. This will be the last post for the 2011 season, but we will continue to post comments.

Please join us next season and have a great 2011.

2011-07-11T12:59:00.000-04:00

I'm back from my two week vacation and it appears the juveniles have fledged while I was away.

The juveniles fledged in 8 weeks and are most likely hunting on their own at this point. Since osprey migrate individually, the juveniles must be completely independent of their parents for food by the time southward migration begins. We may continue to see the "family" osprey during July, but they could begin migration to Central or South America in late summer. With Hilton Head's southern location we do have osprey that reside here throughout the winter and do not migrate.

Juveniles become sexually mature around 3 years of age, but may not begin breeding until 5 if nest sites are scarce. Determining a juveniles sex by its coloring is not always exact. In the past juveniles have been banded with information indicating male or female, then as the osprey matured the banding proved to be inaccurate because it could take about to 18 months to reach adult plummage.

2011-07-06T07:43:00.002-04:00

It appears our juveniles have successfully taken flight. It may take juveniles a few weeks before they start catching their own fish. If they are unsuccessful the parents will assist them if they are unable to make a catch.

Full adult plumage is achieved at 18 months. Juvenile osprey strongly resemble the adults, except that the brown feathers of the upper body are tipped buff-white, and the streaking on the breast and crown tends to be heavier. The eye color changes from brown to yellow as juveniles mature.

2011-06-21T08:34:00.000-04:00

One of the juveniles is feeding itself as seen in the photo, top right. The other juvenile may be feeding itself as well because it was attempting to steal the fish away. Nice to see the two progressing.

2011-06-19T07:48:00.001-04:00

The heavy rains that have passed through our area for the last few days has finally cleared the lens housing quite nicely and we all can see the osprey on the tower once again. They just need to keep their aim to the North and South of the camera.

Both chicks, or should we say juveniles now, seem to be healthy and have been exercising their wings. The parents continue to maintain the nest and feed their young.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there watching our nest!!

2011-06-17T10:09:00.003-04:00

Bea feeding TE, top of the picture, and MKD, towards the bottom.

2011-06-15T09:16:00.001-04:00

Our two chicks, MKD and TE, are now 6 weeks old and have grown significantly. Unfortunately for all of us their aim upon relieving themselves has been directed at our camera preventing us from watching them transform from gawky chicks to full feathered juveniles. They both have been flapping their wings in order to strengthen their muscles in anticipation of fledging, which is usually in 7 - 9 weeks of age and they will continue to roost on the nest for about another month. With the tower being 100’ high the first flight is always a tense moment.

Bea is still feeding MKD and TE, though they will soon begin feeding themselves. Juveniles will sometimes fly along the male begging for food while he hunts. Juvenile ospreys usually catch their first fish 2 – 8 weeks after fledging.

In 2009, the osprey parents would sit on the communications equipment and squawk at the young possibly enticing their young to take flight. We’ll have to see what approach Bea and Jasper take with their two. Hopefully by then, if not sooner, we’ll have rain to clear the camera housing lens.

On a side note…I’ll be taking a vacation beginning next week, but will be checking the blog to post your comments as I get an opportunity. Also, we would like to thank everyone for their patience with the lens being blurred.

2011-06-07T07:12:00.001-04:00

Updated news from other nests...

Friends at Blackwater log reports that they have three chicks that appear to be doing fine despite the intense heat and humidty.

The Dunedin nest is having trouble with it's fledgling ospreys.

The Loch of the Lowes reports that their pair is having to contend with interference from other birds and the incubation of their eggs has become intermittent.

The Hailuoto - Marjaniemi nest reports that their first and second egg hatched yesterday, June 6.

At the Loch Garten nest their two chicks are growing fast as well as experiencing a heat wave the past day.

2011-06-03T06:56:00.002-04:00

Hilton Head had a little bit of rain on the south end of the island during the night. From what we can tell the nest appears dry so we're not sure if mid island received any rain. The camera is still blurred and the high humidity is not helping. We are expecting possible showers this eveing so hopefully the lens will clear from its present state.

2011-05-29T07:02:00.002-04:00

It appears that one of the birds hit our camera when it was relieving itself so a good portion of the view is blurred. We are going to have to wait for rain to clear the outdoor housing of the camera.

2011-05-27T16:16:00.001-04:00

It's confirmed...Friends at Blackwater Refuge have their first chick! They're expecting their 2nd chick in the next few days.

2011-05-26T11:29:00.002-04:00

Both MKD and TE are growing like weeds and parents Bea and Jasper continue to build up the nest since the two little ones are quite mobile and moving about the platform. MKD has a pronounced white spot on its chest more so than TE and is also a lighter beige than TE.

News from other sites...

Friends of the Blackwater Refuge are expecting chicks any time now.

Loch of the Lowes is on 24 hour watch in anticipation of their eggs hatching. Their male osprey is having trouble with crows and chasing them away from the nest.

The Dunedin nest in Florida recently banded their three chicks.

The Hailuoto-Marjaniemi nest, which is nestled in the artic forest in Finland, has four eggs.

2011-05-23T08:28:00.000-04:00

The Photo Gallery has been updated with 41 new images.

2011-05-19T07:22:00.000-04:00

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.

2011-05-17T11:41:00.002-04:00

With the two chicks maturing at a fast clip, you can see the differences in MKD's crop compared to TE's. The crop stores food for later digestion.

MKD has definitely established dominance over its sibling by pecking at TE and nudging him/her out of the way at feeding time. This mornig MKD was even pecking at Bea while she was attempting to feed him/her...probably not a good idea.

2011-05-13T13:28:00.002-04:00

Sad news....We lost MT.

A little before 11:00 Jasper was bringing in more sticks and inadvertently lifted MT up by the neck with a stick and carried MT to the edge of the nest. MT fell from the tower and did not survive the fall.

2011-05-11T15:14:00.000-04:00

As the chicks develop you may notice a swelling at the base of the esophagus. This area is known as a crop and is a storage area where food can be held for later digestion. In the attached 2009 photo of one of our chicks, you can see the crop protruding from the neck. The crop enables a chick to eat as much as possible as other chicks might take its food. Also, the crop allows a chick to go longer between meals if necessary.

The 2009 photo shows a chick that is 2-1/2 weeks old. Soon our trio will look like this in about 10 days.

2011-05-09T08:04:00.001-04:00

We now have our three chicks: MKD, TE, and MT. The parents, Bea and Jasper, are doing a fine job caring for their chicks. Jasper has been bringing in plenty of fish and Bea has been sheltering the three from the heat and indiscriminately feeding the trio. With MKD being the oldest and strongest, it is usually up front at feeding time.

When the chicks hatched from their shells you may have noticed a white notch at the top of their beak. This is an egg tooth that enables the chick to chip away at the shell poking holes in it allowing it to break through the shell. (See photo). The egg tooth will fall off in a couple of weeks after hatching. Upon hatching the chicks will have a buff down with a white stripe down their back which helps camouflage the chicks making them appear as one of the many sticks in the nest.

At two weeks the chicks begin to develop a dense wooly down and will lose the buff down. The chicks will appear black and prickly, somewhat “reptilian” in appearance. This “reptilian” stage will last about a week to two weeks.

2011-05-07T10:32:00.002-04:00

We have our third chick hatch around 10:13 Saturday morning which was caught by viewer Sue. The third chick's name is MT. You can see the broken shell to the right side of Bea.

2011-05-06T11:53:00.003-04:00

One of our bloggers asked if we had an osprey platform photo. The platform is a six foot chain link fence, give or take, situated at the top of a 100 foot communications tower. The camera is situated on a vertical post so not to interfere with the communications equipment and is positioned on the eastern edge of the tower and overhangs the platform about a foot or so. The camera's size is approximately 7.6" x 4.75". The camera is encased in a weather proof housing which makes its overall size roughly 1'x1'. The photo does not show the bottom portion of the tower.

2011-05-06T07:06:00.002-04:00

We have our second chick, which we are naming TE. Viewer Sue caught the second chick hatch around 6:40 last night.

The second chick, TE, is on the left and MKD is on the right.

2011-05-04T15:57:00.002-04:00

The photo gallery has been updated with 43 new photos. We've had a lot of excitement today with our first chick of the 2011 season hatching this morning at 9:38 am. Our chick's name is MKD. The next chick could hatch Friday or Saturday. We're looking at past photos to identify if the first egg laid is the egg that hatched today. Hopefully we 'll find unique blotch marks on the eggs to identify which one hatched.

MKD took it's first taste of fish just under two hours after hatching and has eaten twice since freeing itself from the egg shell. Jasper continues to re-inforce the nest while delivering fish to Bea and their first chick. Of course Bea keeps a pine cone close to where she sits, occupying herself by nibbling on it.

2011-05-04T09:38:00.002-04:00

We have our first chick which we are naming MKD. The chick hatched at 9:38am.

2011-05-03T07:26:00.001-04:00

It's Tuesday and still no chicks at this point. Both Bea and Jasper continue to bring nesting material to the platform and rotate incubation times. Bea often appears restless and will pop up suddenly. Friday began the 35th day for the first egg that was laid. A chick will normally hatch within 35 - 42 days after it's egg is laid. Today marks the 39th day for the first egg, 36th day for the second egg, and the 33rd day for the third egg.

We hope to see some activity with chicks at any time. :-)

2011-04-30T07:05:00.000-04:00

As of 7:05 this morning we still have three eggs.

2011-04-21T13:56:00.000-04:00

It's almost time for our pair, Bea and Jasper's, eggs to hatch. Incubation periods range from 5 - 6 weeks and next Friday, April 29th is the 35th day since the first egg was laid. Because the eggs are laid a few days apart, they also hatch in the order that they were laid - a few days apart. Chicks that hatch first are usually bigger and dominate over their younger siblings. If enough food cannot be supplied to all the chicks, the smallest chicks may not get enough to eat and die. This is called brood reduction.

Jasper will definitely be busy bringing in more and bigger fish to feed all the hungry little mouths.

2011-04-20T07:11:00.002-04:00

The top two photo's are of Bea and the bottom of Jasper, the male.

2011-04-19T08:47:00.000-04:00

Bea taking a break from incubating the eggs Tuesday morning.

2011-04-14T06:55:00.000-04:00

Not much going on at the moment with our pair, Bea and Jasper, while they continue to incubate their three eggs. The first egg could hatch anywhere from April 28 - May 4. If we are lucky enough to have chicks this season, it will be the second time since the web cam went live in 2007.

2011-04-08T11:01:00.004-04:00

Not much is going on at our nest at the moment other than Bea and Jasper exchanging incubation duties. The weather for the coming days will be in the upper 70's and into the 80's. Thought I'd list activites at other nests in the meantime: An osprey is back at Friends of Blackwater NWR and building the nest for the 2011 season. I've only seen one osprey on the nest so I'm not sure if both male and female are there yet. At Loch of the Lowes the male and female have been mating and they are hopeful to have eggs in the near future. The Dunedin Osprey nest has eggs that are expected to hatch any day. They have a total of three eggs. The Kentucky Environmental Education Project is live, but no osprey's seem to at the nest at this time. They did have Great Horned Owls, but their eggs were broken by the pair incubating them.

2011-04-04T08:11:00.001-04:00

So far Bea and Jasper are doing a fine job caring for their eggs as both continue to take turns incubating the eggs and are bringing in new nesting material. The normal clutch size is three eggs so our pair is right on track. We hardly see one of them off the eggs as they must be kept at a certain temperature for the chicks to develop properly.

Another reason is to protect the eggs from predators. If the eggs were left unattended for long periods, they would be vulnerable to attack from land predators such as raccoons and foxes. Since our nest is clearly out of their reach the ospreys have daytime aerial predators such as eagles, crows, or vultures, and nocturnal predation from great horned owls.

2011-04-03T09:38:00.004-04:00

Osprey webcam thrills bird lovers as Lady of the Loch awaits mate

Thousands log on worldwide to watch oldest breeding osprey keep vigil beside Scottish loch http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/03/osprey-webcam-lady-scotland

2011-04-01T11:38:00.000-04:00

Eggs from this morning at 9:21.

2011-04-01T07:22:00.001-04:00

We've picked names for our pair and they are...Bea and Jasper submitted by Beth from Ohio.

2011-03-31T16:17:00.000-04:00

Our pair now has three eggs. The first was laid Friday, March 25, the second, Monday, March 28, and the third, Thursday, March 31.

Osprey's generally lay 2-4 eggs with three being the average size clutch. The eggs are whitish with bold splotches of reddish-brown and are incubated for about 5 weeks to hatching.

2011-03-31T15:20:00.001-04:00

We may have three eggs, though not confirmed. The female was acting a bit odd around 3:17. Hopefully she'll move so we can get a good look.

Update...Yes, We now have our third egg which she laid at 3:17 on Thursday, 31 March.

2011-03-31T07:11:00.000-04:00

Our male appeared at 7:05 this morning and the female flew off. We have noticed a few more palm fronds and sticks around the nest so dad is still hard at work. I'm sure the hard rain throughout the past several days has hampered his efforts. We are predicted to have more rain today than mostly sunny into next week.

2011-03-29T12:22:00.000-04:00

Close up of the two eggs as of today, 29 March 2011.

2011-03-28T13:22:00.003-04:00

We have our second egg!! Thanks to viewer/blogger, Beth, who spotted the egg at 12:59, on Monday, 28th of March.

2011-03-28T06:49:00.005-04:00

The pair is doing a fantastic job protecting their first egg from the thunder and lightening storms that have been passing through the Lowcountry. The female has been tucking her head inward protecting the egg and most likely herself from the pelting rain. The warm temperatures that we've been enjoying for a few weeks now have fallen about 15 to 20 degrees and do not appear to go back into the 70's until the weekend. We'll go through the names we've received so far and try to pick names this week. We still have the first egg at this time.

2011-03-27T07:59:00.000-04:00

Our pair weathered the storm that passed this morning, although they both look a bit disheveled.

2011-03-26T18:59:00.000-04:00

The male and female are taking turns, about 60-40, incubating their first egg. The male almost seems obsessed with rolling the egg. Both male and female will roll an egg to ensure it is evenly heated and that the embryo does not stick to the inside of the eggshell.

As mentioned by one of our bloggers, the weather forecast in the next few days is not going to be the best for our pair and their new egg.

With the weather conditions forecast to change the pair will have to make sure they keep their egg(s) warm.

Both parents have a brood patch, an area of bare skin under their breast feathers. Males have a smaller ‘hot-spot' than the females; however, the female ospreys have a larger area with many vessels that can be suffused with blood whenever the egg temperature falls. This instinctive ability allows the ospreys to sense temperature changes within the eggs and to control it within the nest through their own body methods.

2011-03-26T09:06:00.001-04:00

2011-03-26T08:11:00.002-04:00

We have our first egg of 2011. Several of our web cam followers reported seeing the female appear ready to lay her first egg of 2011. The egg was laid between 6:12 and 7:30 on the evening of 25 March.

As soon as we get a photo of the egg, we'll post it.

2011-03-24T13:34:00.001-04:00

Osprey News from Scotland...

EJ returned to Loch Garten today -2011- much to the delight of RSPB Scotland staff. She had a tough time in 2010 and we didn't know if she would return in 2011

Link...

http://www.rspb.org.uk/webcams/birdsofprey/lochgartenvideo.aspx

2010 article...

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/garten-osprey928.html#cr

Youtube today of her return...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTYVBaqXGEI

2011-03-23T08:20:00.001-04:00

The photo gallery has been updated this morning.

2011-03-22T15:38:00.002-04:00

One of our osprey bloggers thought it was time to name our ospreys. I can't keep referring to them as "the pair" or "our couple" so let's open up this post to suggest names for our resident ospreys. Please use this post to list your preferences. We'll compile all the input and pick names as we did in 2009. So let the naming begin....

2011-03-21T07:48:00.000-04:00

At 7:32 this morning the male suddenly expanded his wings and looked towards the western edge of the platform. He flew towards an intruder osprey and knocked it off the platform and quickly chased it away. The intruder's back was toward the camera so we couldn't make out if it was male or female.

We've been noticing the pair often looking skywards the last few weeks. Maybe a possible explanation for no eggs yet? There hasn't been much competition for the nest this season as existing nests are still unoccupied around the island. Last year was a different story. Our pair, Bella and Benecio, could not establish the nest and evidently left with several ospreys vying for the platform.

The female continues to spend most of her time on the nest, often with her head down and eyes closed.

2011-03-17T10:26:00.000-04:00

The nest is finally beginning to take on a "bowl" appearance. Both male and female have been quite busy bringing in material...the latest, palm fronds. The male has apparently found the honey pot of mullet (fish). So far, from what we've seen at least, mullet is the only fish he has brought to the female.

The osprey are continuing to mate and fortify their nest. If and when an egg appears we will post the information.

2011-03-16T16:36:00.002-04:00

We are performing work at our Hilton Head office so you may be experiencing intermittent web cam interruptions.