Blog # 325 Birth Announcement

Ophelia’s and Orpheus’ first chick of 2021. 

Watch out fish—there's a new predator in town, with two more on the way. After 34 days  of incubation in the Salt Point nest, a healthy-looking bobble-headed hatchling was  revealed on May 26 when Ophelia rose early in the morning during a short  

Parents with their first offspring.

brooding/incubation break. If everything goes right, the new chick will be joined by two  siblings at some point over the next couple days. Ophelia’s eggs hatch asynchronously meaning one egg will hatch every two to three days. 

More detail is visible on this hatchling close-up, courtesy of Landings. 

Ophelia incubates during the night, but she and Orpheus have been taking turns sitting  on their eggs in the daytime since April 18, when the first egg was laid. Orpheus has  been incubating more and more, building up his time to spend a third of the day on the  eggs, and often refusing to give up his place to Ophelia. When he wants to incubate, he  makes his wishes known by trying to shove Ophelia off the eggs, walking on top of her,  and “pawing” at her with his closed foot. Eventually, either Ophelia gives up and leaves  or Orpheus flies off.  

Ophelia feeding her day-old hatchling.

Ophelia, Orpheus, and their sleeping hatchling. 

The hatching of the first chick marks an end to the incubation period for the pair with all  their efforts now directed to the care of their brood. From the moment the first egg  hatches, Ophelia will no longer leave the nest to eat as her focus now is to keep the young warm and sheltered from sun and rain. She’ll stay with her precious brood and  will not leave for several weeks except for minute-long breaks carried out under  Orpheus’ watchful eye. Orpheus now turns his concentration to fishing, ensuring  Ophelia and her hungry young have plenty to eat. 

The new day-old hatchling weighs less than 2 ounces and has a wingspan of about 3  inches. In five weeks, this fast-growing chick will reach adult size with nearly a 6 foot  wingspan. With three of these young birds together, it makes for a crowded nest.  

Please note: No blogs will be posted between June 3-11 as the webmaster will be on  vacation! have fun, Robert and Oya! 

Eyes to the sky! 

Candace  

Candace E. Cornell  

Friends of Salt Point  

Cayuga Osprey Network 

Lansing, NY  

cec222@gmail.com

HELP PROTECT OSPREYS 

• AVOID GETTING TOO CLOSE TO NESTING SITES DURING THE BREEDING SEASON. IF AN ANIMAL  VOCALIZES WHEN YOU'RE NEAR, YOU ARE TOO CLOSE! BACK OFF IMMEDIATELY. 

• CARRY BINOCULARS TO VIEW WILDLIFE FROM AFAR. 

• RESTORE, CLEAN, AND PRESERVE LAKESHORE AND WETLAND HABITAT. • RECYCLE USED FISHING LINE, WHICH CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO OSPREY.  

• JOIN THE CAYUGA OSPREY NETWORK AND VOLUNTEER TO HELP MONITOR OSPREY NESTS. WRITE TO: CEC222@GMAIL.COM. 

EYES ON OSPREYS 

WATCH! 

Salt Point Osprey Nest Cam 2021 

READ! 

On Osprey Time—A Blog on the Ospreys of Salt Point 

VISIT! 

Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail

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