Blog #406 Up, Up, and Away


Look at me! Moana gets her first air, while Makani and Lani watch from below.


Moana fledged today! And so did Lani! After weeks of flapping, helicoptering, and looking over the edge of the nest, the young Ospreys took their first tenuous flights into the air! This momentous occasion started after 5 am when all three chicks were frisky, moving about the


nest, helicoptering here and there, and taking brief flights. Without showing intention movements to fly, Moana simply followed her mother as she took off. Moana continued to circle the nest before landing. All eyes were upon her as she flew for the first time, the most significant event in a bird’s life. At the risk of sounding too anthropomorphic, there must be some bird-variant of euphoria when at this moment. One wonders if Makani and Lani took notice with some bird-variant of envy. But flight seems to be contagious. Two hours later, Lani made his first bid for independence, awkwardly flying into the wind instead of with it. Makani is the next to fly and looks ready to do so whenever the inspiration strikes. 


Lani taking his first flight.


Earlier today, Orpheus performed a behavior I have read about but never witnessed. He tried to coax the young to leave the nest by flying with a foot-long white sucker over the nest. He took the fish up about fifty feet above the nest while calling out for attention before quickly swooping down to nest level before flying back up to fifty feet. Orpheus repeated this behavior six times before he switched to circling the nest repeatedly with the fish and calling. It is not clear if this performance encourage the young to fly, but two fledged shortly afterward.


Salt Point’s young fledglings, Moana, Makani, and Lani had been exercising their wings and helicoptering by flapping and jumping in unison. As their feathers grew, they began hovering a few feet above the nest. (Ospreys are the only hawks that truly hover.) This period is when the young were most susceptible to premature fledging. Disturbances at the nest may cause a young bird to jump before it is ready to fly, forcing a landing on the ground or in water and jeopardizing survival. 


Once the young take their first flight, they will spend days practicing, flying on and off the nest and taking short hops to the nest box perch. Fledglings have many skills to master; takeoffs, distance flights, and landings must all be mastered. They begin flying with some fledgling plumage, which is most visible on wings and tail wings where the flight feathers are much shorter than an adult’s. As their adult feathers continue to grow, the birds will gain more flying skill and their plumage will become indistinguishable from adult birds. Soon the cottonwoods along Salmon Creek will be decked with our young fledglings happily enjoying their newfound love of flight. 


The thunderstorms we are having will not prevent the young fledglings from flight practice. They take advantage of the dry times between downpours to exercise. (The scorching 95ยบ temperatures are not conducive to flight practice.) The wing stretching movements are forming neural connections in their brains, which will be refined and coordinated into smooth movements. 


Moana flying about with a twig, as she’s seen her parents do.


Moana has made it to the ranks of the flying and feels good about her achievement. On one of her many flights this afternoon she grabbed a stick from the nest and flew around with it—as she had seen her parents do many times, practicing for building her own nest. The fledglings will copy many of their parent’s movements in the next few weeks—perching on branches to watch the stream, sitting on the shore and bath, gathering sticks and nesting materials, and playing with the water.


Congratulations to Moana and Lani for taking their first flights. Makani is equally ready to fly and will follow suit shortly. The sky is theirs to inherit and they are just discovering the key to flight.



Eyes to the sky!

Candace 

Candace E. Cornell 

Friends of Salt Point 

Cayuga Osprey Network

Lansing, NY 

cec222@gmail.com 


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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



HELP PROTECT OSPREYS

  • Stay 100-300 feet away from Osprey nests during the breeding season. 

If the bird cries, back off Immediately!

  • Carry binoculars to view wildlife from afar.

  • Restore, clean, and preserve lakeshore and wetland habitats.

  • 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.


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