Bird Cams Around the World

from fb Montana Osprey Cams
21 hours ago
Hellgate

Hi all,
So I think that Operation Fish Sticks - removing Iris and Stanley's big nest on the stadium lights - achieved what we had hoped. Iris and Stanley have been spending a lot more time on the Hellgate nest, bringing in more sticks (and big lumber), bringing in fish to the nest, and protecting the nest together against interlopers. So I am hopeful that next spring Iris and Stanley will be right back to the Hellgate nest.
It has been really interesting watching the behavior of Iris and Stanley after their eggs were lost in the hail storm. This is the first time they have had a nest fail, and so we had no idea what to expect. But they have stuck around for longer than I thought they would, and they have spent a lot of time together. Stanley has continued to bring in fish and give them to Iris, and they have both been very protective of the Hellgate nest against other interloping Ospreys. Some birds will "divorce" after a nest failure, but it seems if anything, the loss of their eggs this season has only strengthened their pair bond. All this bodes well for next season.
Cheers,
Erick Greene

Thanks for the Hellgate updates... looks like Stan and Iris will stick with the cam nest!
This couple is adorable!
(Montana from Ches Conservancy is named after this nest (and Dunrovin).)

from fb

Last Sighting of Iris 2015

Safe travels Iris! On a blustery Montana day, Iris makes a last stop on the nest and calls for Stanley. He flies in, joins her briefly, and they leave the nest together. This is the cameras last view of Iris for the 2015 season. We believe she left the area soon after, beginning her migration journey. Though we are unsure of this pairs destination, it may be the south coast of Texas where other birds from Montana were sighted last year. See the story:

from fb Montana Osprey Cams

12 hours ago

Hi folks,
Sorry we have been out of touch for quite a while. I have shifted gears back into teaching several large classes on top of other university responsibilities. But here are a bunch of updates.
In spite of Iris and Stanley losing their eggs in the wicked hail storm in May, this turned out to be a very interesting summer for them. This was the first year of Iris' pretty long life that she has not successfully raised chicks (as long as we have been watching her). I was not sure how Iris and Stanley would behave after losing their eggs, but if anything this event seemed to strengthen the bond between them. The migrated south a couple of weeks ago, but up until then they spent a lot of time together. Stanley continued to bring fish in to Iris all summer long.
Many ospreys have considerable time to form a pair bond before they breed. Iris and Stanley did not have that time - Iris' previous mate disappeared, and Stanley showed up late in that breeding season. They mated and laid eggs almost immediately. So this summer they had a lot of time together - just the two of them. Instead of going their own separate ways immediately, speaking anthropomorphically, they finally got to date and have a honeymoon. So their pair bond seems stronger than ever before they left. If they both survive the winter, we expect them back raring to go next spring.
Another consideration is that breeding takes a lot of energy for these birds, especially the females. By the end of a breeding season raising chicks, females typically have lost 10% or so of their body mass. So another silver lining of the hail storm may be that both Iris and Stanley probably left for their winter grounds in really good shape.
Cheers, Erick Greene

and......

Hi all,
A lot of you have been worried about Rapunzel! Her satellite transmitter has stopped transmitting hourly points from Yellowstone Park. Since this makes it seems like she is not moving, many of you have rightly been worried that she might have died.
But GOOD NEWS - she is alive and well and back on her old wintering grounds on the Texas Gulf Coast. How do we know this? It turns out that the main part of the transmitter has stopped working and sending hourly signals up to the satellite. This is to be expected, and Rapunzel's transmitter has actually lasted longer than was expected. But there is a tricky backup system built in. The transmitter still sends up a secondary signal to the Argos satellite - it is less accurate and less frequent, but it shows that she is in fact still alive and doing well, and back in her winter home!!!
Woo hoo. Erick Greene