by Jeanne Wiebenga
Banner photo above (July 25, 2023). Three juveniles, almost ready to fledge & exercising their wings
It is hard to believe that our Osprey pair, who settled at this nesting pole in 2020, have already completed their fourth breeding season and have returned to their wintering grounds in South America!
Ospreys are large raptors, who have been around for millions of years and are, together with the Peregrine Falcon, the only two bird species that can be found on all continents except Antarctica. They usually mate for life and can live up to 25 years of age and are the only bird whose diet consists solely of fresh fish (from fresh, brackish or saltwater).
After becoming nearly extinct in the 1960s, Osprey numbers began to increase in the 70s after DDT was banned in the US. The ban was largely due to the efforts of Rachel Carson and our own Roger Tory Peterson, who testified before congress about the harmful effects of this insecticide that affected the calcium metabolism of many bird species. The disruption led to defective eggshells that were easily crushed causing the premature deaths of the embryos.
In the 1970s Ospreys began to make a comeback along both coasts and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as in Alaska and the Great Lakes regions, but it wasn't until around 2010 that a few were spotted again in our area.
To give a brief overview from how our Osprey story started: in 2015 a group of volunteers from the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy erected an osprey platform at Loomis Goose Creek Wetland Preserve, between Chautauqua Institution and Lakewood. The platform sits on top of a 30 foot utility pole on the lake side of Rt. 394. The hope was to attract Ospreys back to the area around Chautauqua Lake, where at the time there were very few of them.
It took 5 years before our couple, whom I named Femke and Hauke, meaning Young Girl and Hawk in my native Frisian language, settled on the empty platform in March 2020. We soon could see them bringing in nesting materials, sticks, grass and leaves and when we observed some mating activity we presumed there was a good chance for some eggs in late April. Those eggs would hatch 6 weeks later, resulting in a juvenile who would be ready to fledge another 2 months later. During this period we could see Hauke bring in a daily catch of fresh lake fish and Femke was brooding on the nest, while we watched from the ground beneath the pole, hopeful for a healthy hatchling and coming fledgling.
Finally early August 2020 we were excited to see an almost fully grown youngster sitting on top of the nest, receiving flying lessons from its parents. It fledged (flew off the nest) a few weeks later.
Femke, having successfully raised her chick, flew south soon afterwards, most likely to the Amazon region. Hauke stayed around another 2 weeks and when he was satisfied that the fledgling was capable of flying and fishing independently, he also took off to his wintering grounds in northern South America. The last time we spotted the youngster on the nest was late September, then guided by instinct and unknown guide stars, it also made its way south.
Hoping that our pair would return to the nest in the spring of 2021, we decided to set up a nest camera, that would allow is to observe activity from egg laying to hatching and fledging of any youngsters. Since we have no access to WiFi or electricity on site we can only use a camera that by motion activation can send still photos to an iPhone.
To our delight Hauke, followed a week later by Femke, arrived almost at the exact dates they did the previous year! This time we were able to view up-close all nesting activities which we then shared on CWC and other websites, Facebook and Instagram. We spotted one egg late April, watched Femke brood during snow, frost, wind and hot weather, until 6 weeks later we saw a tiny golfball size hatchling, that grew up to an adult-sized juvenile in less than 2 months. We could see Hauke bring fish a few times a day, which Femke then tore into small bits to feed to her youngster while eating the left-overs. Eventually a fledgling flew off the nest early August and about 6 weeks later it left for its wintering home, following in the direction of its parents although to a different site. It will stay there for 2 years before it will make its way back to our region.
In 2022 Hauke and Femke returned, on the exact dates they had in the previous year, starting another breeding cycle that again proved to be successful and they reared another healthy juvenile!
In the meantime we had noticed more Ospreys around Chautauqua Lake. We could not tell if any were the offspring of our pair, but quite possibly they were!
Then in 2023 we were in for a surprise! Our couple returned again on the usual dates, Hauke in last week of March and Femke a week later. We noticed just one egg by late April but then in early June, our camera showed 3 hatchlings, of slightly varying sizes, born 2-3 days apart.
At first we were not sure if all would survive, since the smallest one seemed so scrawny and could not compete for the morsels of fish distributed by Femke to her ravenous babies, but just a week later they all seemed to be thriving and late July we could see them vigorously exercising their wings with small jumps from the nest, until in the first week of August, they fledged, one by one, flying short distances from the nest but eventually making long circles and learning to fish from their parents! The usual pattern of Femke leaving, following by Hauke 2 weeks later, was repeated again this year. However, all young Ospreys had left the nest by August 30, which is almost a month earlier than in previous years.
In the meantime, as I write this on September 19, there are still a few Ospreys from other nests that can be seen flying across the lake, and we don’t know what the early departure of our family means. The youngsters appeared fully grown and healthy! Do they know something about upcoming weather events that we humans can not predict?
In the meantime, our plans for the future are to install a few more nesting platforms, one on University Beach at Chautauqua Institution and a second one on the Golf Course. Gifts from the Roger Tory Peterson Institute from the proceeds of an Osprey photography exhibition in 2021, the BTG, the Golf Club and private donations have made this possible. We also hope to be able to use a camera capable of streaming video in the future, since we most likely will have WiFi and electricity close to the site
Several of my statements are based on what we know from research done in other parts of the country, where ospreys have been equipped with satellite trackers. From those we learned that our birds most likely spend winters in northern parts of South America. Our birds are migratory, while the Ospreys from southern parts of the US may be year-round residents.
These past four years of observing our Loomis Osprey pair and their chicks have given us so much pleasure and joy watching the dedication of the parents to raise their families here defying all adversity, from long, hazardous journeys between wintering places south and breeding grounds up north near our beautiful lake, to cold and heat, rain and storm. It also is a story that gives us hope, and, at a time while we’re being inundated with messages about alarming decline of species in our natural world, may leave us room for optimism, that we still may be able to turn the tide of losses and restore our damaged environment with the kind of actions that were taken 50 years ago and that led to the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
All photos are by Jeanne Wiebenga, who generously shares them with the world on her Facebook page and in spectacular exhibitions (3, so far) hosted by the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, the Athenaeum Hotel and the Lakewood Library. A retired OB-GYN, Jeanne now serves on the board of the BTG, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute and the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and donates the proceeds from her sale to various lucky organizations, including the BTG. We are revamping our website this fall and if all goes well, we will have an online store soon, in which you will find Jeanne's prints for sale. Stay tuned!
See photo essay below of the 2023 Osprey Nesting Cycle:
June 16, 2023. Two of the three hatchlings, about 2 weeks old, peering out from the nest, with Femke above.
July 26, 2023. Hauke (L) watching two of the three youngsters about to fledge. Note that Hauke's eye color is yellow, whereas the juveniles have orange eyes.
July 31, 2023. Femke delivering fresh fish to her chicks.
August 14, 2023. Two fledglings perching on a snag behind the nest. Having learned to fly earlier that month, they are now making practice flights in training for the hundreds of miles they will fly by the end of the month.
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