July 23th - Monroe, MI Osprey Nest Visit |
The Monroe, MI osprey nest is located on an impoundment at Sterling State Park. While this nest is easy to locate, it sits out in the water a long way from shore, making observation and photography a challenge. This nest contains a pair of unbanded adults, and three chicks. One chick can be seen to the right of the female, (the left most bird) and another chick's head is the white spot in line with the male's feet. We did not see the third chick. |
As we were observing, both adults exploded off of the nest and made a quick U-turn to the south. About a mile away, Val Voloppi spotted the bald eagle they had gone after. After escorting the eagle out of their territory, they headed back toward their nest, only to be diverted to the west to engage an adult osprey who wandered into the area. It was a scintillating ten minutes of action. |
With the osprey intruder removed, the adults returned to the nest and the waiting chicks. That's the female on the nest, with the male about to land. As a point of interest, the chicks in the nest appeared to be about 6 weeks old when we visited. They were first reported to OWSEM by Tim Smart at the beginning of July. |
Copyrighted images on this page provided by Jim Kortge.