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.