On Osprey Time

  Easter morning (April 12), Ophelia leisurely flew out over the lake, circled over Ladoga Point, and traced the outline of the marina and Myers Park as she returned to her nest.  That would be her last taste of freedom until she migrates in mid-August, as she has a  new job to do. Nevertheless, Orpheus mounted and tried copulating but she rebuffed him.  Orpheus mounting Ophelia.  Ophelia looked awkwardly full as she fidgeted, pecking absently at twigs, and moving about her nest. Settling in the nest one minute, rising and readjusting the next, over and  over she moved until she finally raised and lowered her rump expelling an egg. This  was Ophelia’s first egg of 2020. It is also the first egg of Ophelia’s I’ve ever seen, which is exciting for me. It’s taken five years to finally get a functional camera recording the intimate nest life of the breeding Ospreys at the Salt Point Natural Area and now we have it! Last year, Orpheus and Ophelia were unable...

Osprey nests fascinate me. These oversized, sloppy collections of sticks and garbage are tremendously strong, practical, and more sophisticated than they look. Most nest building takes place in the month of April, but the male will continue to provide new sticks and materials throughout the breeding season. One determined male Osprey can collect several hundred sticks in a day. Osprey nests must be built on strong substrates as they weigh an average of 400 lbs.  Enormous Osprey nest, courtesy of Good Morning Glouster, UK.  Osprey nests are built primarily with vegetative materials. In southern states, you will  find Osprey nests with palm fronds, twigs, cane fibers, and Spanish moss, whereas in  the north, sticks, twigs, and grass predominate. In Central New York, corn stalks are  often incorporated. The male Osprey brings most of material to the nest, while the  female guards the nest, but both partners arrange the sticks and twigs into place. The male fli...

I was apprehensive when I saw Ophelia sitting on her nest. In an hour, Ithaca’s  Computer Room and the Ithaca Sign Co. would be arriving with their equipment and  bucket truck to fix the Salt Point Osprey Cam. The camera, mounted atop a 60’ Osprey  nest platform at the Salt Point Natural Area, was knocked out of alignment in October,  most probably a red squirrel. Should I proceed with the repair and risk scaring Ophelia  and Orpheus from their nest?  Orpheus and Ophelia siting on their nest prior to the camera repair, CE Cornell.  Originally scheduled for early March when the bucket truck could negotiate the mud and  before the Ospreys returned, the Osprey cam realignment suffered numerous delays due to COVID-19. Today proved to be the first opportunity to access the nest platform,  but it would be risky. Orpheus and Ophelia began repairing their nest yesterday,  meaning it was still legal to work near the nest, but they should not be o...

Salt Point Natural Area showing the handicap accessible trail, courtesy of Sue Ruoff.  The Salt Point Natural Area, on Cayuga Lake in Lansing, is now a registered Audubon  Birdability site, one of a growing number of accessible birding hotspots in the US. 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 only efforts of its kind in the nation.  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 fox, beavers, deer, racoons, and an abundance of butterflies and fish. It is an official Monarch Waystation,  a viewable blue bird t...

I held my breathe while rounding the bend of Myers Road toward the park entrance; will they be there? In a small hillside meadow is an Osprey platform built about four years ago called the Myers Hill nest. The first year at the nest was a bust for the female, Ms.  Liberty. Her mate was a slacker, a poor provider, whom she wasted a breeding season with and later summarily dismissed. Her new mate of two years, Myer, has been a  model partner, always attentive and providing ample fish for the family.   Myer bringing a brown bullhead to his nest, photo courtesy of Karel and Cindy  Sedlacek.   Named after the long since vanished Lansing lakeside community of Libertyville, Ms.  Liberty guards her nest. Myer flew from the lake toward the nest with a small bullhead secure in his talons, allerting all within ear shot of his latest catch. A pair of intruding  Ospreys suddenly appeared on the scene, looking for an unoccupied nest. Ms. Liberty lifted fro...