Blog #266 Gray Days

 Salt Point this afternoon was windy and gray with the lake water so choppy I could not imagine how Orpheus and the other male Ospreys in the area could fish. But there he was, Orpheus, hovering over the lake. He dropped into the white caps, but came up empty. He circled around and tried again offshore from the Osprey platform...hazzah!  Up he flew with what looked like a perch writhing in his talons. How could he possibly see a fish in this light with so much chop? Ospreys constantly amaze me. 

Orpheus fishing on a gray, but much calmer day, by CE Cornell. 

Orpheus circled towards the shore, dipped low behind the trees, and alighted on his favorite cottonwood about 50 feet inland from his nest. Orpheus, perched out of the wind, ate the head of the fish before bringing the rest to Ophelia. Once Orpheus arrived on the nest with the fish, the handoff to Ophelia was rapid. She took the fish with her bill, grabbed the fish in her talons, and flew off to her favorite perch tree to eat, leaving the eggs exposed.

Eating the head off his catch, courtesy of Karel and Cindy Sedlacek. 

It’s striking to see these enormous hawks walking carefully and purposefully through the nest with their deadly talons closed to approach the eggs. Orpheus rolls the eggs gently and settles with his brood patch on the eggs. From watching him on the Nest Cam, it’s clear that Orpheus enjoys incubation and does so far more than most males that only spell their mates at mealtimes.  

As the temperature drops, a few spits of rain began. I lament that snow is predicted for  Mother’s Day weekend. Ophelia can manage such spring snows. I do worry about all the rain we’ve had while the hen Ospreys have been incubating—too much rain can rot the eggs. We’ll soon see as the first egg will hatch sometime around May 17th! 

Eyes to the sky! 

Candace 

Candace E. Cornell 

Friends of Salt Point 

Lansing, NY 

cec22@cornell.edu

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