Blog #301 Wintry Blast

Myer (L) and Liberty (R) at the snowy Myers Hill nest, courtesy of Karel and Cindy Sedlacek. 

There are many signs of spring in the Finger Lakes that excite me with the return of the  Osprey topping the list. Like red-wing blackbirds and other “early birds,” Ospreys take a  chance returning north before spring has a firm footing. They risk snowfalls and finding  

no food due to ice-covered lakes and ponds in the northern most reaches. But their high  nest-site fidelity and drive to reproduce is too strong to keep them away. They must  reclaim their homes, as some have been in the family for generations.  

Adult male Ospreys always arrive ahead of the females, vying with each other to defend  the best nests. It’s a gamble. Early males risk encountering poor weather and scant  food for the chance to beat other males to the best real estate. Ospreys must  additionally defend their nests from non-migratory species like the Great Blue Herons and Bald Eagles who commandeer their nest sites before the Ospreys return.

Myer flying by the Myers Hill nest, courtesy of Karel and Cindy Sedlacek. 

Myer delivering a stick to the Myers Hill nest, courtesy of Karel and Cindy Sedlacek. From her posture, it’s not clear if Liberty approves of this stick.

The perils are many as Ospreys return from their wintering grounds. They are  susceptible to electrocution, illegal shooting, and vehicle collision en route; not all mates  make it. Should a mate not return, the remaining mate will likely wait for a week or two  before attracting another mate. This new mate comes from the pool of unmated adults  called intruders or floaters. If a mate returns late, they are usually able to displace its  would-be replacement with a fight.  

Myer delivering another stick to the Myers Hill nest, courtesy of Karel and Cindy Sedlacek. 

Pre-adult two-year-old ospreys leave the wintering grounds much later than the adults and may reach their natal nesting grounds as late as June when it is too late to breed. These pre-adults join the ranks of the unmated intruders exploring and searching for  

nesting sites of their own. Intruders are often nuisances and interfere with the breeding  pairs to the breeders as they try to take over nest sites. However, they are essential to  the population as a whole because they replace missing breeding partners who die or  are incapable of performing their duties.

Myer and a receptive Liberty trying to mate in a strong wind, courtesy of Karel and Cindy Sedlacek.

Myer and a receptive Liberty trying to mate, but the wind interferes, courtesy of Karel and Cindy  Sedlacek. 

The first Ospreys to cross into Canada from NY this year did so yesterday at Braddock  Bay as the snow fell. In the Cayuga Basin, the Ospreys were covered with a “dusting” of  snow as temperatures dipped into the 20s and brisk winds howled. 

The last three days at Salt Point have been profoundly windy with rolling white caps  splashing onto the shore and birds being buffeted as they attempt to fly. Constant  clouds portend more snow heading our way. T’was not a day for boats nor birds on  Cayuga as her changing moods must be respected. Fortunately for the local the  Osprey, gulls, and kingfishers, fishing is still possible in the calm of Salmon Creek and  other tributaries.  

Don’t pack up the parkas yet. This isn’t the last we’ll see of the white stuff. Remember  as the season progresses, if a nesting Osprey cries out, move away immediately. You  could jeopardize their breeding success for the year. Thank you! 

Myer (L) and Liberty (R) at the snowy Myers Hill nest, courtesy of Karel and Cindy Sedlacek. Myer is  sleeping with his eyelids closed and Liberty is “singing Jingle Bells.” 

Eyes to the sky! 

Candace  

Candace E. Cornell  

Friends of Salt Point & 

Cayuga Osprey Network  

Lansing, NY  

cec222@gmail.com  

GUEST PHOTOGRAPHERS:  

Karel and Cindy Sedlacek, a.k.a. BOGette, are the folks you see 365 days/yr. live streaming (https://livestream.com/karelsedlacek) Red-tailed Hawks on campus and  locally. In the warmer months, they also capture exquisite shots of Cayuga Lake’s  Osprey with their cameras, which are frequently published in this blog. Both tech  wizards at Cornell and accomplished musicians, the Sedlacek’s give us a unique view  of these spectacular raptors. Karel andCindy are Osprey nest monitors for the Cayuga  Lake Osprey Network. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP PROTECT OSPREYS:  • Keep a distance from active nests in the breeding season. If an animal vocalizes when you are near, you are too close! BACK OFF IMMEDIATELY. 

• Carry binoculars to view wildlife from a distance. 

• Restore, clean, and preserve lakeshore and wetlands. 

• Help keep local waters clean, healthy, and safe. 

• Recycle or dispose of used fishing line, twine, plastic mesh, and other materials  hazardous to Ospreys and other aquatic animals. 

• Join the Friends of Salt Point and keep the bird habitat clean.  

• Volunteer to monitor Osprey nests with the Cayuga Osprey Network. 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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog #481 Sunshine at Last!

Image
  Last week’s 2 week old chicks. Now they look completely different, courtesy of Facebook. Meteorologists report this is the 6 th  day of sun in all of May with more rain in the forecast. This is good for the plants but potentially damaging to the Ospreys. Foul weather rots eggs and makes hunting difficult to impossible at a time when the hatchlings are most vulnerable to the starvation, cold, and predation. Despite the challenges of fishing in windy, rainy conditions, Orpheus succeeded in keeping the family fed by catching small, nearshore fish and making up for deficiencies with large trout whenever there was a break in the weather. A foggy morning feeding the 2 ½ week-old chicks, Salt Point Osprey Nest Cam. The 3 week-old chicks in their reptilian phase, courtesy of YouTube. Oakley, the eldest chick, just turned two-weeks old and is passing into the Reptilian Phase,  where the now darker, scaly chicks. In this transitional phase Oakley’s buff down is quickly replaced w...
Read more

Blog #482 Where Ospreys are Starving

Image
Male Osprey landing a beauty, enough to feed the entire family trout, courtesy of Patrick Marshall. Ospreys of the Cayuga Lake Osprey colony, live in the stunning heart of New York’s Finger Lakes of a terrific about centered on Cayuga Lake may lull us into complacent thinking that all is well in their world. Life for Ospreys near Cayuga is certainly good for our in this inland colony with lots to eat and seeming endless nesting possibilities, but an ecological tragedy is in the making not far away. Osprey chicks are starving and whole colonies collapsing in the Chesapeake Bay region, home of the world’s highest concentration of breeding Ospreys (until recently estimated at 10,000 breeding pairs). The tragedy is caused by a sharp decline of their dietary staple, menhaden, called “the most important fish in the sea” by author H. Bruce Franklin. Ospreys, striped bass, bluefish, weakfish, whales, and a myriad of other coastal and marine species dependent on menhaden for food are all declin...
Read more

Blog #461 Sneak Peek at Osprey Season 2024

Image
  Orpheus (L) and Ursula at their Salt Point Nest March 26, courtesy of Cindy Sedlacek. The following is a sneak peek at what this Osprey summer will entail. Our northeastern Ospreys return to their breeding habitats just after the early spring thaw. This year’s first Osprey was seen in Cayuga Lake Basin on March 15, an early date many attribute to  the mild winter. Most nest occupants will have returned to their nests and reunited with their mates by this weekend. These returning Ospreys have just completed their 2,000–4,000-mile migrations from their wintering areas along the coasts of South America and in the wild Amazonian tropics. The range of landscapes that a cosmopolitan Osprey can experience in its lifetime is staggering. In general, the older breeding males arrive on their nests followed by their mates in a few days. After that first wave of older Ospreys arrive, unmated adults and second-year birds migrating north for the first time after spending two years in the S...
Read more