We now have three chicks in the nest: TT, JW and LT. 

We possibly have a pip in an egg. If a chick hatches today would mark 39 days since it was first laid.

Osprey chicks use an egg tooth on the upper beak to help break the inner shell which they repeatedly tap to free themselves.

Bea and Jasper continue to incubate their three eggs. Today marks the 20th day since the first egg was laid. We could see a chick around April 24th or so. 

 It appears the pair, Bea and Jasper, will have three eggs this season. The third egg was laid March 24th. Ospreys usually lay eggs 1 - 3 days apart. The chicks will hatch in the order the eggs were laid.

Along with the eggs is a photo of Jasper incubating the clutch. Jasper will continue to share the task of incubating the eggs until the chicks hatch, when he will then provide fish for his family.

 We now have three eggs.

Bean and Jasper have their second egg as of Monday morning, March 22nd.

 

 We have our first egg of the 2021 season. We believe Bea laid the egg this morning. 

Finally the pair has their act together and started their next clutch. Bea and Jasper haven't started this late since 2013 when their first egg was laid on March 13th. Prior to that they had late dates of March 24th in 2012 and March 25th in 2011.

Bea is spending more time on the nest, but still no egg as of today. The pair is behind schedule laying a clutch eggs compared to previous years. Mating continues and Jasper has been providing Bea with fish. As soon as we see an egg we will post the information.

 Not much is going on at the nest. Jasper has been bringing Bea a variety of fish. The nest itself still needs a bit of work, but should work just fine when Bea is ready to lay her clutch of eggs.

 We have confirmed that Bea and Jasper returned for their 11th season. Since their arrival they have made many repairs to the nest. The pair has been mating often and we anticipate a clutch of eggs by  early March.  Below is a photo of Bea and then of the pair, Bea and Jasper.

We are still trying to confirm if the female osprey is Bea. Some of the familiar markings are there. but not all.
 

 A female osprey appeared on the platform Monday, February 8 at 8:10 a.m. We have yet to confirm if it is Bea. Jasper has attempted mating so for that reason we are thinking it must be Bea, but we are trying to obtain close-ups of her to help identify whether or not it is Bea.

 Welcome to our 2021 Osprey season

We open our blog with viewer Sharon spotting an osprey on the nest this past Saturday, January 30th. Upon viewing the nest today the osprey is Jasper, the male for the past 10 seasons.

We await his mate, Bea, to arrive as this will be her 11th season on the nest with Jasper. Last year the pair had two chicks with only one surviving - SZ.

The nest is located about mid-island and has several shallow creeks nearby where the pair catches flounder and various other fish for themselves and their chicks. We hope 2021 brings the nest healthy chicks and also sees a brighter year for us all.

Our website host has fixed the connection problem for the osprey images so we are back up and running. Sorry about that folks. Our resident ospreys are still in the area though mostly not in view of the camera.

You can check out the nest at https://www.palmetto.coop/osprey-habitats/

Hey Everyone, sorry about the lack of posts. With everything going on the Osprey blog was pushed aside. In the last post, April 22nd, Bea and Jasper lost their youngest chick KS. But SZ has fledged. Often the trio has been seen on surrounding trees and on various parts of the communication tower. SZ will stay with its parents until it is time to migrate south.

Around Hilton Head we do have osprey that are here throughout the year, but I'm not sure if they are more northern osprey that don't make a deeper winter migration.

Again sorry about the lack of posts and photos.

Bea and Jasper lost their youngest chick, KS. We aren't sure of the day KS died. It's death could have been to sibling rivalry or due to exposure during the severe lighting and thunderstorms we had a few days ago.

The chicks are doing well and are now growing their pin feathers. The chicks have a darker down  and a pronounced strip down their back. They resemble sticks in the nest which helps protect them from predators. 

Bea and Jasper will have only the two chicks - SZ and KS this year. Today marks the 47th day for the third egg. Normally ospreys hatch 35 - 42 days.

The second chick, KS, hatched sometime in the morning of Saturday, March 21, 2020. The second chick took 41 days to hatch.

It's possible the 2nd chick is attempting to hatch. It appears there is a pip in the egg. It looks as though there is a bit of egg shell raised. Either wishful thinking or the second chick is on its way. Then again the lines on the shell could be scratches from Bea.

The first chick is in the process of hatching. The eggs normally hatch in the order that they were laid. In the past few years the first chick hatched in 38, 41, 40, and 39 days. So this little one is on pace with its predecessors.

The little chick hatched at 7:31 this morning. It's name is SZ. Photos to be posted a little later.

We think we are seeing a PIP on one of the eggs. A pip is a small hole the chick makes with its egg tooth that is located If this is the case and the chick eventually hatched today it will be 41 days for the first egg.

Today is the 39th day since the first egg was laid. As viewer Beth indicated, we could start seeing chicks this week.   :)

Today marks the 33rd day since the first egg was laid. The past few seasons the first egg hatched 38 - 42 days after being laid so we might see the first chick in one week.

It's been nineteen days since the first egg was laid so we are about half way through the incubation period. The pair has been dealing with colder temperatures and rain the last week, but all in all their routine hasn't been hampered with intruding ospreys and the fish have been plentiful.

Bea and Jasper have their third egg as of Wednesday morning, February 12, 2020.

Bea and Jasper have their second egg as of Sunday morning, February 9th.