Photo contributor Jim Rockwell sent along some photos that he recently took at Wildlwing Lake. In this photo, mother osprey is feeding one of the three, always hungry, chicks while C09 looks on.
Keeping three chicks fed is a momentous task for a male osprey. C09 is a master at it!
Jim Rockwell photo; used with permission.
A short time after the fish in the upper photo was consummed, C09 was back again with another! We told you he was good!
Jim Rockwell photo; used with permission.
A week after doing the nest check, Jim Kortge returned to the Windfall Hill Bay nest to see if those other two eggs had indeed hatched.
While he was watching and photographing, the male from this nest brought in a fish. With the female now able to feed the nestlings, maybe we would find out.
Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.
It didn't take long to find out the answer! All of a sudden there were three little bobble heads all trying to get at an offered fish morsel.
Interestingly, each chick got all the fish that it wanted. One-by-one they stopped eating and mother osprey finally ate the remainder, about a third of the fish.
This is the fourth year that this pair has had three chicks to raise. All of the chicks from previous years have fledged!
Jim Kortge photo;used with permission.
While the female was feeding the chicks and herself, the male remained "on guard" at her side. When the fish had been consummed, he left and flew to his favorite dead snag perch along the south shore where he can keep watch over the whole bay.
JIm Kortge photo; used with permission.
OWSEM members, Jim and Kathy Kortge went up north of Maple River on May 22nd to see if the reported nest in the cell tower on Ranger Rd. was indeed active.
We were astounded by the height of the tower, over 250 feet tall, and the size of the nest. This nest has to have been active for many years to be as large as it is.
Smartly perched atop the nest was a female osprey, sitting quite low, indicating she was incubating.
Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.
At one point, the Maple River female took off and flew around the tower area for about one minute. This allowed us to see and photograph her legs to confirm that she wasn't banded.
We never did see the male on this trip, but Lori Sargent of the Michigan DNR saw him a week prior to our visit.
Photo contributor Jim Rockwell sent along some photos that he recently took at Wildlwing Lake. In this photo, mother osprey is feeding one of the three, always hungry, chicks while C09 looks on.
A short time after the fish in the upper photo was consummed, C09 was back again with another! We told you he was good!
A week after doing the nest check, Jim Kortge returned to the Windfall Hill Bay nest to see if those other two eggs had indeed hatched.
It didn't take long to find out the answer! All of a sudden there were three little bobble heads all trying to get at an offered fish morsel.
While the female was feeding the chicks and herself, the male remained "on guard" at her side. When the fish had been consummed, he left and flew to his favorite dead snag perch along the south shore where he can keep watch over the whole bay.
OWSEM members, Jim and Kathy Kortge went up north of Maple River on May 22nd to see if the reported nest in the cell tower on Ranger Rd. was indeed active.
At one point, the Maple River female took off and flew around the tower area for about one minute. This allowed us to see and photograph her legs to confirm that she wasn't banded.