On Osprey Time

Osprey sitting calmly before being overcome with Zugunruhe, courtesy of Karel and Cindy Sedlacek. One minute the birds are perched contently, and the next they take off on migration succumbing to Zugunruhe , a German word describing the intense “migratory restlessness period.” Zugunruhe hormones are powerful internal cues that signal seasonal migrations; it prompts the uncontrollable urge to move and travel thousands of miles, battling hungry predators, strong winds, food shortages, and stormy weather to get to the safety of their winter home in the tropics.  Autumn in the Eastern U.S. is a restless time of year for wildlife and especially birds. Reports of incredible endurance and distances traveled during migrations of monarch butterflies, elk, humpback whales, American eels, Atlantic salmon, menhaden, and striped bass. Birds are famous for their migration feats and global travels, notably shorebirds. Notable examples include the Bar-tailed Godwit, Red Knot, and Artic Tern, and l...

Orpheus with twigs for the nest, courtesy of Michael Dean. The loss of an Osprey, especially an adult raising a family, is a heartbreak. A few weeks ago, we lost a healthy young father of two at the Cornell Research Ponds on Niemi Road, Lansing, to electrocution. The fireman said it was a perfect storm of events: the nest, made heavy by the  Nest burst into a fireball, courtesy of Flicker. rain, touched the energized electrical wires just as the adult male flew to the nest with a new stick. Contact was made, the father was electrocuted, and the nest burst into a fireball. All that remained were burn marks on the power pole, charred feathers on the male’s feet, and that awful burnt electrical smell. Thankfully, his mate and offspring were not nearby. Like others in our area, this two-year-old nest was built on a utility pole just inches above the live wires.  Around Cayuga Lake, Ospreys commonly nest on double-armed or double-buck utility poles, where their sloppy nests occasi...

Salt Point Natural Area shows the handicap-accessible trail, courtesy of Sue Ruoff. Catch the end of the fall migration at one of the most birdy places on Cayuga Lake—Salt Point. The Salt Point Natural Area in Lansing is a registered Audubon “Birdability” site, one of a growing number of accessible birding hotspots in the US. registered with the birding society.  This new Audubon initiative strives to get mobility-impaired people out in the parks and natural areas to enjoy nature, by way of birding and, in turn, promote more accessible birding. Audubon’s Birdability Initiative is one of the nation's only efforts of its kind. Begun in Texas by avid birder Virginia Rose, who is wheel-chair bound, Audubon is now compiling an official publication of Birdability sites in the nation.  The Salt Point Natural Area is a perfect Birdability site and is rich in floodplain vegetation and wildlife with over 143 bird species as well as foxes, beavers, deer, raccoons, and an abundance of but...

Bald Eagle attempting to pirate a fish from an Osprey at Potato Rapids Dam, Marinette County, Wisconsin, courtesy of Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Picture an Osprey, fish in tow, being pursued by a bald eagle twice its weight across the lake. The bald eagle is a well-known kleptoparasite (sometimes called a pirate), an animal that steals a meal from another animal (the host), and is a frequent stalker of Ospreys and other large birds carrying food. Kleptoparasitism is a common form of hunting, occurring in 197 species of birds and many forms of animals, from mollusks to mammals .  Kleptoparasitism may involve birds of the same species ( intraspecific ) or between different species ( interspecific .) The kleptoparasite gains either by obtaining prey or other objects that it could not obtain itself or by saving the time and effort required to obtain it, as in the case of the bald eagle.  Birds with specialized feeding methods such as Ospreys and their spectacular dives are o...

Lani fished in Salmon Creek, courtesy of Cindy Sedlacek. It’s only been nearly four months since the eggs at the Salt Point Osprey nest gave way to this year’s nestlings, and now they are almost ready to migrate. They are named for three Hawaiian spirit gods: the eldest chick is Moana, meaning ocean; the middle chick is Makani (muh KAH nee) named for the wind; and the third and youngest is Lani, named for the sky. Like most Ospreys, each nestling has a mind of its own and learns at its own pace. All three of these birds developed rather quickly this summer, reaching the post-fledging dependency milestones of flying and fishing in mid-August, giving them plenty of time to perfect these skills before migrating to Central and South America later in mid-September. Since the first brood at Salt Point in 2013, each phase of the breeding process from courtship to the post-fledging period has shortened, corresponding to Ophelia’s and Orpheus’s developing maturity as parents. The courtship peri...