Blog #408 Young Wings



Ursula perches proudly with her offspring. (L-R: Makani, Ursula, Moana, and Lani.)


The Salt Point Class of 2022 is airborne! Makani took to the air yesterday, July 24, right on schedule. Like other fledglings on their first flights, she stayed close to the nest, rarely flying higher than the trees as she circled the nest three times before her first unsteady landing. 


Makani flying awkwardly at first.

All fledglings make awkward first landings. The smooth come with practice and are perfected at each individual’s pace. Early landings are fraught with issues: either the young birds misalign their approach to the nest, or they come in too steeply, too rapidly, or off balance and barely make it to the nest. Landings are safest on nests, where there is room for errors. Landing on branches takes additional skills, especially balancing, and is easiest to perform on the snags or branches in the open. 


Lani nearly missed the nest on this landing as Makani and Moana watched.


Each brood seems to have one klutz, a fledge who gets tangled in leaves, springs back when snapping off branches, or repeatedly lands on twigs too weak to support it. One of the first fledglings of Salt Point, in 2013, named Stevie made a loud thud with every nest landing.


All activities center around the nest for the next two weeks as the fledglings get more accustomed to flight and fishing. Orpheus will continue to bring fish to the nest for the fledglings to devour. The youngsters play in the nearby stand of cottonwoods, flying from one perch to another. Landing in a tree with leaves takes added precision. Precocial Moana, the first to fledge, easily negotiated landing on such a branch on her first day of flight, but it took Lani a few tries. 


After 3–7 days of flying around the nest area, the fledges add gliding flight interspersed with wing beats. These flights can be clumsy, especially if the wind is strong; the fledglings need time to learn the nuances of flight. Gradually, the young explore the area farther and farther from the nest. Flights will soon include flying north over the lake at the North Cove and to the south along the shores of Salmon Creek. They will expand their flights east to include a wide loop around Salt Point. As a fledge becomes more practiced, its flights become more elaborate, longer in duration, and more frequent as they expand the area they explore. 


Lani making an awkward banking turn.


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Moana shaking off the rain, courtesy of Cynthia Sedlacek.



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Moana eats fish on a tree limb, courtesy of Kristofer Rowe.


Rolling thunderstorms hampers the progression of the fledglings’ flying, but they resume practice as the weather clears. Orpheus and Ursula, sheltering in the cottonwoods, are joined by Moana, Makani, and Lani during the storms. Here, the Ospreys have little to do except to preen and sleep. 



Eyes to the sky!

Candace


Candace E. Cornell 

Friends of Salt Point, Lansing, NY

Cayuga Lake Osprey Network

cec222@gmail.com

  

Guest Photographer:


Cynthia Sedlacek, musician and Director of Data Administration and Reporting at Cornell University, is a surprising artistic talent. Cynthia’s affection and admiration for raptors are evident in her exciting photographs primarily of Ospreys nesting around Cayuga Lake and the red-tailed hawks of the Cornell Campus. Her photographs of local Ospreys are incomparable as she captures their essence, their jizz, their inner bird. From the hard-to-see nestlings to the fast-flying adults, Cindy goes beyond the pale to catch all aspects of Osprey life in the Cayuga Basin. Cindy and her husband Karel are also avid nest monitors for the Cayuga Lake Osprey Network and video stream footage of the campus hawks.



EYES TO THE SKY!


WATCH!

Salt Point Osprey Nest Cam


READ!

On Osprey Time: Ospreys of the Finger Lakes


VISIT!

Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail



HELP PROTECT OSPREYS:

  • Eggs will be hatching soon. Stay 300 feet away from nesting sites during the breeding season. If the Osprey vocalizes, you are too close! Back off Immediately.

  • Carry binoculars to view wildlife from afar.

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

  • Recycle used fishing lines, twine, and nets, which can kill Osprey.

  • Join the Cayuga Osprey Network and volunteer to help monitor Osprey nests: cec222@gmail.com.





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