Another eagle attack! The eagle grabbed Spirit in a flyby!!! One juvie fledged when it saw the eagle coming and has not been seen and one remains on the nest. I read that Rachel tried to foil the attack! Here is a short video of the event by Polo7422:
Swin, just read on chat that Rachel tried to warn the chicks by alarming, but they were busy looking around and looking at her - and possibly didn't get the message because of fog.
I understand how you feel. This is so heartbreaking.
Thanks bonbon! I want to point out in the video, if you watch immediately to the right of the nest you can see Rachel flying to attempt to foil the attack! It is quick and when you are watching the eagle, you can easily miss her! Poor Rachel!
Another sad day in this nest's history. At about 7:12 pm EDT an bald eagle attacked the Hog Island osprey nest and snached little Spirit. During this incident Little B accidentally fledged. We only can hope that he is fine. Osprey parents feed their chicks off the nest as well, even if they are able to fly and catch their own fish. So there is hope! Eric is still on the nest and was fed by Rachel twice since the incident happened.
We contacted Steve Kress and Eric. A first search party hasn't seen Little B around the nest. We hope to learn more soon. Of course we will keep you up-to-date.
Let us keep Spirit in our minds and remember how many joyfull hours we shared with her and her siblings. May she soar in eternity!
Bierre is the one who fledged. I only hope the eagle doesn't return tomorrow!!!
Thanks for bringing the info here, swinwk...I had just finished reading the sad news on FB. The following was posted in the Comment section:
Dear Osprey friends:
I share your shock over this latest eagle attack on Rachel and Steve’s nest. Soon after the attack, Audubon staff began a thorough search under the nest, along the shoreline under the nest and by boat all along the shore and in the water between the shore and the Crown Royal. The searchers have just reported that they found no osprey chicks on the ground or in the water. We will continue the search tomorrow with better light and expand the search to the nearby trees. After such an event, especially at dusk, it would be normal for a fledgling to be quiet and hiding.
Thanks all for your great compassion and caring for the Hog Island ospreys.
My very best, Steve
Let us keep Spirit in our minds and remember how many joyfull hours we shared with her and her siblings. May she soar in eternity!
So very, very sad... It does appear from the video that little B made a good flight. I just hope he found some place safe to land..I just pray this Eagle doesn't come back now that it knows there's an easy meal for the taking. Poor Rachel...she tried!!
Little B did a great job ... I know they are saying accidental fledge, but THAT was the MOST PURPOSEFUL FLEDGE that I have EVER seen!!! It was a fledge for survival!!!
Little B did a great job ... I know they are saying accidental fledge, but THAT was the MOST PURPOSEFUL FLEDGE that I have EVER seen!!! It was a fledge for survival!!!
SWINWK wrote:
Thanks bonbon! I want to point out in the video, if you watch immediately to the right of the nest you can see Rachel flying to attempt to foil the attack! It is quick and when you are watching the eagle, you can easily miss her! Poor Rachel!
Just a quick check in before I head out for the day. I've had the cam up for a few and they have been panning. Chatters said that Steve brought in a fish. Rachel arrived, got the fish and left. They are hoping this means they know where Little B is...I hope they are right!!
Dear Osprey Friends: I am pleased to share the news that a search team from Hog Island and Project Puffin found osprey Little B on the mainland about 1/4 mile from the nest. Sharp-eyed Project Puffin intern Aspen Ellis spotted the missing fledgling high in a pine. The fledgling is healthy and parents are perching nearby. The fact that it travelled this distance and is perched high in the tree suggests it can fly-which supports Dr. Bierregaard's view that his namesake osprey was in fact old enough to fly. And- a quick enough responder to instinctively recognize an eagle as a threat and take the evasive action in an instant of flying for the first time! This good news points to how chance events and natural selection can favor individual birds who look so similar to our eyes. Meanwhile, Hog Island staff will keep watch, hoping to deter the eagle from making another visit.
Before Little B returned to the nest, he was sitting and exercising on the cutter Crown Royal. Funny to watch him balancing on the wire. Later Rachel joined him. Videos by: Arlene Beech.
I'm not sure, but I think little B spent the night off the nest. Here he is coming in this morning (8/5)..
Hopefully they've had a good day..no time for me to watch..(neither on Sat or Sunday)
I know I wasn't much help covering this nest from the beginning, but Swinwk, I wanted you to have a least a few pics to look at when you check back in..
I also wanted to share a post by CamOp_Kwaahu from 8/3. I thought it was quite poignant..( I copied/saved it.)
Hi, everyone! I'm only here for a few moments today, because I need to keep an inward silence, but I wanted to share something with you all. I hope you will bear with me and forgive how long this is, but this is the community that nurtures and teaches and I wanted to share with you what I've learned from this nest of Osprey:
Rachel and Steve have taught me that they are even better parents and caretakers of their children than I ever imagined. Knowing where Bierre was in the trees, Rachel brought the first meal of the day to him, bringing him not only the nourishment of fish, but that of a loving, caring heart to settle her firstborn down and help him retrench and recover. Steve, ever the watchful provider, stayed close to him through the night and, after the Eagle flew by the trees, unsettling his boy, he took him on a training flight around the Bay, showing him the greater area of his home territory, the perching places, fishing spots, and the majesty of flying. This further helped strengthen and encourage him in ways that greatly add to his chances of survival, and internalising the lessons he learned when he flew for his life.
And I learned that we, as humans, have qualities that bind and imprison us, and that these same qualities bring a richness and fullness to our lives when we walk in a balanced manner upon the earth.
Being blessed with this window into the intimate lives of Osprey, as humans, we “claimed” them as “our own.” We invest hours and hours of our lives, our hearts, our creativity, our minds in these wonderful beings which, while enlightening us and opening us to how precious and worth saving their lives and their homes are, and how deeply we are connected to them and everything around us, we make the mistake of this “laying claim.”
We build structures in our minds and hearts containing them, and then we decide how we want Life to bend to our wishes, railing wildly against anything that threatens our planned scenarios or desired outcomes. In our littleness, we want to destroy whatever comes along to upset these little worlds of ours. Or, at the very least, manipulate Nature to “protect” it from the facts of its nature. Even though I spent most of the season trying not to be, the desire to let down my guard and become attached to what I claimed as cherished members of my family, giving free rein to my feelings, hopes, desires and dreams became, instead of the controlled enjoyment and savouring of every moment, every development, every treasured adventure in their lives, filled with abandon and joyous experience…and, I breathed a sigh of relief.
It was directly after that, and I mean truly immediately after that, that we lost our little Spirit to the Eagles.
I took the time to search my soul, to pray and meditate, to be of service to our community and the Osprey, to regroup and recover.
What I came to realise was that it was a gift that the attack happened when it did. “Our” Bierre was ready to fly. He saved his own life. Rachel and Steve were there, at the ready, and prevented another child from being taken. Spirit, bless her heart, tried to fly to freedom but could not. Today, two days later, I heard her say to me, when I, in my mind, was there at the nest to wrap her in my heart as the Eagle carried her away, “I’m an Osprey. This is what happens,” and I remembered the Osprey song’s words, “that’s just the way it goes.”
This camera is giving me an opportunity to see life through their eyes, not my own. I have been blessed with seeing how incredible Steve and Rachel are at caring for their family. I watched a very brave, young Osprey take his first flight, slowly recover from his terror and disorientation, returning home stronger and hopefully wiser, having lost his innocence. I have watched the happy abandon with which Eric welcomed him home, and kept painful vigil with him as he had the unpleasant experience of suddenly being without his two closest companions. I got to witness their still being babies, and how they are adapting to the changes in their lives.
I feel much older, tired, and I think, a little wiser. Now, I’m going to do my best to celebrate the moments, but with Osprey sensibility, not my own. This is a perilous life, a fragile life. None of us knows how long it lasts, or what will take it away. All I have is every moment, and it’s not okay to keep the feelings always held in check, because they are what gives life its meaning, its potency, its preciousness. Nor am I to give every feeling free rein, or fail to temper it with wisdom and discretion; it is up to me to give every moment of life my presence: enjoying the gifts, suffering the pain, laughing and crying and adding to the fabric of the universe through meaningful, thoughtful, considerate action free from selfishness and littleness.
Currently Rachel is on the perch and Eric is in the nest..No time to read back through the posts to see when Little B left for the day..
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum