Ospreys on cam: First of three chicks takes flight
Thousands of people have enjoyed watching a trio of osprey chicks grow up on a live video feed from their nest, and viewers were rewarded last week with a chance to see the birds fly for the first time.
“It has been really interesting and educational to watch the chicks and parents, a lot more so than last year when they didn’t hatch,” one viewer wrote in an email after seeing the first flight.
Some people have been tuning in to the nest for quite some time and remember when last year’s eggs languished as the parents tended to them without the eggs producing any offspring.
On Saturday, the oldest chick logged its first flight.
This year the mother laid three eggs about three days apart, and the chicks hatched in the same order. Now, the man who set up the camera, Kent Roorda, is expecting them to start flying in that same sequence.
“In the next few weeks, the chicks will perfect their flying skills and will also learn (from their father) how to fish,” he wrote in a weekend update about the birds.
“When they catch a fish, they will bring their fish back to the nest where they will eat it,” Roorda explained. “You’ll also probably notice that the chicks will not share their fish with their siblings or parents, unless they simply can’t eat any more of the fish. This is normal.”
He says that in an average year the chicks will leave the nest sometime after Sept. 1 and migrate south. They will spend a full 18 months in the South before returning to the Grand Lake area, but not to the nest. Instead, they will look to find a mate and start families of their own.
“Shortly after the chicks leave the nest and fly south, the parents will then migrate to the South for the winter separately,” Roorda added. “Then, they will meet up again, at this nest, around next April 15 when they return here.”
Before leaving, Roorda noted that the birds will tidy up their nest in preparation for their return. That’s also when he will check on the nest and make any necessary repairs. Roorda also revealed he is planning to upgrade the camera with audio.
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