Blog #308 Three is a Crowd?

 Every day, I sit in Myers Park downloading footage from the Salt Point Nest Camera from the day before. I then view it and upload installments on the Salt Point Nest Cam  channel on YouTube for the community to view. The footage is always interesting, if you  like Ospreys, but it’s not what you call “must see TV.” That is until today.  

A second female attempting to land on the nest. 

Let me remind you that Ospreys are exceedingly territorial around their nest. The nest is  the center of their existence and they will seriously battle to maintain its ownership.  Confrontations with intruders are usually exciting aerial battles. Intruders may try to  mate with Ophelia or challenge the pair for ownership of the nest. Every year the pesky  intruders try their best to dislodge the pair, but never succeed. That is, until today, sort  of. 

A female intruder, who had been hanging around Salt Point for hours making Ophelia  nervous, finally made a ploy for the nest. The intruder battled briefly with Ophelia before  she entered the nest and sat there calmly with the other birds. I’ll repeat, all three birds,  one male and two female, sat peacefully on the same nest for nearly a half hour. On occasion Ophelia gave out a nervous cackle, but for the most part it resembled a family 

reunion. Is that what it was? Was this second female a progeny of Orpheus and Ophelia? 

A second female lands on the nest. 

An uneasy peace between the three Osprey. The visitor is far right.

L-R Orpheus, Ophelia, and the visitor in nest peacefully. 

There is nothing in the literature reporting that Ospreys recognize their grown offspring  although I have long suspected they did. Who knows?  

Orpheus, Ophelia, and the visiting female on the nest.

Eventually, Ophelia chased the other female away. 

Ophelia insists she’s the Queen Bee..

Check it out for yourself on the Salt Point Nest Camera channel on YouTube— https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfnE74qpNoi7nG3mfL 

TIQ/videos?view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=0 

Choose Uploads for the latest footage and look at the following clips: 

Intruder tries to land on nest 20210414 152434 152750 

Trio peacefully on nest 20210414 145705 150410 

Three adults on nest 20210414 150905 151036 

Three adults on nest 20210414 151100 151138 

Three adults on nest 20210414 151731 151803 

Second female comes and goes 2 x, sits on camera 20210414 151829 152426 

Nest camera studies provide great insight to the day to day lives of these birds,  revealing behaviors and other secrets we never knew—keep watching! 

Eyes to the sky!  

Candace 

Candace E. Cornell  

Friends of Salt Point & 

Cayuga Osprey Network  

Lansing, NY  

cec222@gmail.com 

HELP PROTECT OSPREYS: 

• Keep a distance (100-300 feet) 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. 

• Help keep local waters clean and healthy. Preserve and clean shorelines. • Recycle or dispose of used fishing line and other materials that can entangle  Ospreys and other aquatic animals. 

• Volunteer to monitor Osprey nests with the Cayuga Osprey Network. Write to:  cec222@gmail.com.  

EYES ON OSPREYS 

WATCH! 

Salt Point Osprey Nest Camera 2021

READ! 

On Osprey Time—a blog on the Ospreys of Salt Point 

VISIT! 

Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail

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