Port Perry's Osprey Family

One of the Osprey chicks

Until a few years ago I hadn’t had many encounters with Osprey, and the first time I saw a nesting pair was in Port Perry, Ontario.

Since then I’ve gone back each year to visit them.

You might imagine an Osprey pair might build their nest at the top of a large tree near water, but this pair seems to like baseball, and nests smack-dab in the middle of four diamonds at the sports complex in Port Perry.  I had read somewhere that the first Osprey nesting attempt at this location didn’t exactly go well - the birds were not too impressed with all the ballplayers and spectators but eventaully everyone learned to get along.  There is a marsh nearby, and Lake Scugog is a short flight away.

Dad spends his days fishing for the family and refurbishing the nest.  He made three trips to the marsh and the forest to find suitable twigs and other material.  I was surprised by this because the chicks are very large and are ready to leave the nest.  But on this particular day the wind was gusty and a second nest was losing some twigs.  Maybe he was just providing a bit of insurance from the gusts.

Dad's day was made trickier because of the Eastern Kingbirds, who were not impressed with him flying back and forth over their fledgling.  I found this photo interesting because you can see the Kingbird's red patch on the top of his head (click on the photos to enlarge).  I had no idea they even had this patch, but the sun was hitting him just right (thanks for confirming ID, Janice!). 

Mom spends her days taking care of the young - she rarely leaves the nest or a nearby light fixture.  She also calls for dad to come back, and if you have never heard an Osprey vocalize before, it is surprising because it is a very soft call.  Click here to listen:  http://soundbible.com/1241-Osprey-Call.html

Mom is on top here, she had been in the nest and was taking off.  Looks like baby helped her get some height!  The adult's eyes are yellow and the chicks' eyes are an orangy colour.

My favourite moment was the quieter chick suddenly started to hover above the nest!  He had waited for a strong wind gust and jumped up into the air and flapped for ten seconds.   The wind held him in position above the nest and he had a risk-free opportunity to exercise his wings.  As the gust died down he slowed his flapping and safely landed back in the nest.  He did this several times and the second chick started as well.  You can see the chick doing this in the photo below.

If they haven't fledged yet, they will be doing so any day.  Let's hope they wait until after the 9th inning!