Blog # 412 A Day at the Lake
Ospreys dry themselves after a dip by doing a “doggie shake.”
Ursula and the fledglings, freed from the bonds of their nest, know how to cope with blistering hot summer days—they bath in the lake or stream—and today was no exception. Ursula flew out to the offshore snag where the gulls tend to sit and delighted in the refreshing water.
A fledgling flying low after bathing, courtesy of Cynthia Sedlacek.
in the refreshing water. Standing in the shallow water, Ursula would dip her head followed by her whole body letting the coolness wash over her. For at least five minutes she repeated her ablutions. When satisfied, she gave a healthy doggie shake and flew to Salt Point.
Makani was in the nest begging for food as Ursula flew over and lighted in a cottonwood nearby. Orpheus, sitting on the power pole at the entrance to Salt Point, must have heard Makani’s pleas and headed off to fish. Lani flew around the North shore and spooked Moana who was sleeping in a tree. Moana chased Lani over the lake until they both returned to the nest where Ursula was begging for food.
(L-R) Ursula and one of her fledglings expecting a meal, courtesy of Cindy Sedlacek.
About ten minutes later, Orpheus brought a fish to the nest. Moana immediately grabbed at the fish in her father’s talons. After a brief tugging match, she won and started dragging it across the nest. Makani pounced on the fish and pulled a chunk off of it. Moana mantled the remainder of the sucker preventing Lani from stealing the remainder. Lani stayed in the nest begging as Moana and Makani flew off with their meals. Left alone, he kept begging. His cries must have motivated Ursula to fish as she appeared at the nest five minutes later with a small catfish and left it for Lani.
A while later, Orpheus could be heard giving alarm calls from the North shore as he chased an intruding heavy-necklaced Osprey away from his nest territory. They were flying so high they could barely be identified yet Orpheus’ cries could still be heard. The commotion surprised Makani who had flown over to a tree on the North shore and she promptly flew to the nest.
After an hour of dozing, the fledglings came to life again. Moana and Lani went to the shallows off west Salt Point to bathe in the lake. Makani was near the offshore snag and Moana was closer to the shore. They both had great fun splashing in the water, floating, drinking, and chasing the ring-billed gulls. Afterward, they chased the gulls from the snag where Ursula had bathed.
Fledglings learn about water’s mysteries by dragging their feet in the lake, courtesy of Cindy Sedlacek.
The fledglings took another nap at about the same time even though they were sitting in different trees. Moana choose the cottonwood where Ursula usually perched and Lani and Makani perched in a cottonwood on the North shore. Ursula preened for at least ten minutes in her favorite cottonwood before falling asleep.
Makani flew to the nest begging, calling out to Orpheus for fish. She continued to beg which drew Lani and Moana to the nest. None of the fledglings had started to fish and were hungry. Seven minutes later, Orpheus brought a 10-inch white sucker to his offspring. As soon as he landed at the nest, Moana grabbed the fish and flew off with it.
The other fledglings stayed on the nest continuing to beg. Orpheus was fishing in Salmon Creek and brought a second, much larger brown bullhead for the fledglings to divide. After Orpheus dropped the fish in the nest, the fledglings simultaneously pounced on the fish, grappling with one another for its possession. It takes each fledgling a half hour to eat the pieces of fish. Once finished they all sat in the trees, crops bulging, to digest their meal.
After a lethargic interval, two fledglings started chasing one another over the water. Alternating leaders, they flew in impromptu patterns, quickly switching directions whenever the trailing bird got too close to the lead. The pair repeatedly dove at the line of ring-billed gulls perched on an offshore snag until the flock flew off. The fledglings’ calls must have encouraged the third
Lani woke from his nap and stared at the patterns in the water, courtesy of Cynthia Sedlack.
youngster to join in and the trio began making large circles from the nest out to the snags and back.
Abruptly, the large flock of gulls disappeared as did the starlings, kingfishers, and mergansers who usually patrol the creek. The Ospreys family took to the trees just as the promised thunderstorm hit. Strong winds and hail battered the point as whitecaps pounded the shore. In a
matter of minutes, lazy Salmon Creek became a rushing torrent rising high enough to cover the sandbar in the middle.
Lani taking shelter from the storm, courtesy of Cynthia Sedlacek.
A blinding rain with thunder and lightning followed, changing the direction of the current so its waters reached the railroad bridge, a quarter mile away. There will be no fishing until the water settles. What warning did the birds have of the storm’s approach? They can detect the changing air pressure as the storm front moves in.
The swift-moving storm rolled down the lake quickly, with the thunderheads giving way to blue skies again. Gulls ventured out in the light rain, looking for their snag which was now underwater. It will be a while before they can perch there again so they took to the beach at the North cove. Mergansers, hiding in the vegetation overhanging the creek, braved the rain as well. With the rain stopped, Orpheus flew out over the lake scouting. Clearly, with white caps obscuring his view of the water, Orpheus would not be able to hunt there. But the beauty of living on a lake with a class AA trout stream just yards away is if the lake is inaccessible, the stream almost always is fishable. That’s Orpheus’ secret to raising a decade’s worth of three healthy fledglings each year. True to his reputation, he performed a high dive over the creek and rose with a struggling white
sucker nearly a foot long. As he flew to the nest calling to announce the fish, the three fledglings left their shelters to join him.
Moana heeds her father’s (Orpheus) call to come to dinner, courtesy of Cynthia Sedlacek.
Killdeer, red-winged blackbirds, starling, and grackles went back to foraging as their world settled down after the storm. Makani dozed in a cottonwood overhanging the creek as. Speedily, the kingfisher dropped to the water and arose with a small silvery fish. The bold kingfisher flew directly to Makani startling her and almost knocking her off her perch. Makani and Lani, both in the overhanging cottonwood, couldn’t pass up the opportunity to chase the kingfish around the point.
Storm clouds gave way to the sun and the air was noticeably cooler as low pressure gave way to high. Regrouping on the shore after the wind died, a massive flotilla of hundreds of gulls and gathered on the shore. In a frenzy, the gulls lifted en masse circling chaotically in all directions like blowing snow in a blizzard.
A blizzard of gulls and terns over the shoreline, courtesy of Flicker.
Eyes to the sky!
Candace
Candace E. Cornell
Friends of Salt Point, Lansing, NY
Cayuga Lake Osprey Network
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, and 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. “My camera allows me to capture their beauty in many ways that the human eye can’t see,” she says, “like their spectacular wing positions and detailed feather patterns.” 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!
READ!
On Osprey Time: Ospreys of the Finger Lakes
VISIT!
HELP PROTECT OSPREYS:
•Stay 300 feet away from nests 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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