Blog 438 Navigating in an Osprey World Part 1

May 17, 2023

A pesky red-winged blackbird chases the Osprey, courtesy of Cindy Sedlacek.

Why would a furious 2 oz., seed-eating blackbird attack a nearly 4 lb. Osprey—a bird of prey? Most likely the Osprey flew too close to the blackbird’s nest in the nearby cattails

In pursuit, courtesy of Cindy Sedlacek.

on its way to the lake. Although the piscivorous Osprey posed no danger, the blackbird was not taking chances and neither was the raptor. The Osprey had to work to finally shake this pest.

The blackbird is gaining, courtesy of Cindy Sedlacek.

The Osprey shares its watery lakeshore habitat with a wealth of plants and animals, all interacting and promoting their own welfare. The Osprey must navigate through a world of the invisible territories and hidden nests. Avoiding the airspace of all the nests and feeding territories in the area—and the subsequent interspecies interactions must be challenging.

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, 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.