Raising a Fish Hawk

In January of 2010, a pair of Ospreys started gathering sticks and moss and began building a nest in a large tree in my neighbor's yard. Less than a month later, the nest fell. In 2011, the Ospreys were around but there was very little nest building action in the tree. In 2012, a pair (not sure if its the original pair), successfully built a large nest. The pair spent several months in it, but did not produce any chicks.

A pair has been occupying the nest since January of this year. Finally, one Saturday morning, about 3 weeks ago, I noticed this tiny head!

The female adult Osprey spends most of her time in the nest, using her wings to shield the chick from the sun.

The male is rarely in the same tree. He does come by and drop off a meal from time to time. Mom also leaves the nest occasionally to catch a fish of her own.

Mom does not welcome other birds near the tree. There are several young Red-shouldered hawks in the area and the Osprey gives them a stern warning when they approach too closely as this one did.

The Ospreys aren't the only ones with a nest in this tree as they happen to share with some equally boisterous neighbors~Crows! On this occasion, Mama Osprey forgot her password to reenter the tree!

It sure is hot!

The adult Osprey gives the chick a bite of fish for about every ten bites she takes.

The nest about a quarter mile up the street recently fledged these 2 young Ospreys.

Viera Wetlands 4/27/13

I made an early morning trip to the Viera Wetlands and adjacent "Click" Ponds this morning. This Loggerhead Shrike was perched on a sign along the narrow road leading into the wetlands. I thought it would take flight as I made my way through the entrance but instead it just glared at me. Maybe it was trying to figure out how to hang me on the fence as it does its other prey.

There are still a handful of active Great Blue Herons at the wetlands. This heron was spending its Saturday morning doing what many of us do, making home repairs. This heron had two young chicks that appeared to be less than 2 weeks old. Mom made multiple trips to some nearby shrubs to gather additional material for the nest.

Across the gravel drive was an active Anhinga nest. This mass of woven sticks was sitting delicately on the side of a palm tree, overhanging the water. The tops of these same palms had earlier in the season been occupied by nesting Great Blues.

I saw four mostly white, fluffy chicks in the nest. Three of them were very active, but I didn't see any movement from the fourth chick. Young Anhinga typically stay in the nest for up to 3 weeks.

In addition to the GBHs and the Anhinga, I also saw a few Green Herons gathering nesting materials. There is also a massive Cattle Egret nesting area at the wetlands. The air space in that area is quite congested with Egrets coming and going as they gather materials. Grackles can also be add to the nesting list. The crows were causing a disruption among the Grackles this morning. I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted eggs for breakfast...

 Black-necked Stilts are still hanging around the ponds and wetlands. I just love to see these long-legged beauties!

Hope you have a great week!

Birding Fun

Here is some additional birding fun from last weekend.  This beautiful Fish Crow seemed more than happy to strike a pose.

Fish Crow
Click Ponds

 The Fish Crow is one of two Crows found here in Florida. The Fish Crow is smaller than the American Crow with shorter legs as well as a shorter bill. It also has longer wings and a longer tail.

Fish Crow
Click Ponds

This Tricolored Heron is developing its breeding plumage. During breeding season, the heron's bill becomes  deep blue with a black tip. The heron also displays buff-colored plumes from the back of its head and crimson red legs, which were just developing for this heron.

Tricolored Heron
Click Ponds

Catching a fish and eating it on the go was quite a task for this Cormorant as his fish repeatedly got away from him.

Double-crested Cormorant
Viera Wetlands

Well, this next scene is not really birding fun, it is more like birding terror. I'm happy to report there was no loss of life for any Coot. It sure had me on the edge of my seat, as well as wondering  why over the past few weeks this scene seems to be playing out each time I visit the ponds or wetlands...

The part I found quite strange was, after the gator passed, the Coots began to closely follow gator, all the way to the shore. I would be running, if not flying, the opposite direction...

This group of Coots at the wetlands seemed to be a little more on the concerned side as they conducted an evacuation drill, or maybe there really was a gator on the prowl. Most of the large flock of Coots was lined up wing to wing on the shore.  The Coots often fall prey to the gators here as well as some of the raptors that patrol the wetlands, such as Bald Eagles and Crested Caracara.

American Coots

The Blue-winged Teal found the whole ordeal amusing, but he wasn't getting in the water either!

Blue-winged Teal
Viera Wetlands