2023-Trying Again

Posted on August 13, 2023 by ospreycam

NOTE-Dear Blog Readers. Here is my redo of the blog I tried to publish on August 8 that didn’t save. We will pretend it was published then, and I will continue on next time.

Good evening from the stormy Eastern Shore of Maryland! Last night was kind of scary here at the secret location. Due to the weather forecast, the osprey camera was turned off in hopes of avoiding the damage we suffered during the last nasty storm. In the midst of the approaching severe storm, our lovely youngster, Molly, tried to continue learning the ins and outs of flight. I usually take great delight in watching the hop/flaps, but I was on pins and needles last night. Even without the camera, I couldn’t bear to watch, but at the same time, I couldn’t bear not to watch. At one point during the storm, I could no longer see Molly, who was alone in the nest. Much to my great relief and delight, when the storm passed her head popped back up. I did not see any adults with her while there was still light. There were storms in the area most of the night, so the camera wasn’t back on until this morning. All looks well as far as we can see. There was a severe lightening strike to my neighbor’s trees along the rip-rap very close to the pole, but fortunately, the ospreys and camera seemed to have been spared.

In my last blog, I left you at the end of August 2022, with only Tom remaining at the secret location. Let’s pick it up from September 2022.

There are so many spectacular sunrises here, it is always hard to choose which ones to post. Here is a pretty one from September 3.

Tom spent the rest of the 2022 season with us enjoying his usual activities. Without a youngster to monitor, he had his time to himself. Here he is on his favorite crossbar.

Here is Tom enjoying the view from the top of the swan camera, which is now permanently mounted on the dock. Little did we know that this would be the last photo of him at the secret location. The below photo was taken on September 8, 2022. He left for warmer climes around September 15, never to be seen on his pole again.

In the low light toward dusk, Tom is on the dock above the boat lift on top of the swan camera pole

Tom came to us at the beginning of the 2015 season as a young male. Although Audrey laid three eggs that year, none of them hatched. It is not unusual for a young male to be infertile. Through cooperation between the Chesapeake Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife, we received two foster chicks for our nest, Maine and Montana. This is when we met our dear friend and raptor biologist extraordinaire, Craig Koppie. Craig is the one who gave Tom his Fishing Fool moniker based on the voluminous number of fish he would bring back to the nest. Tom received his Calico Tom nickname from Dr. Paul Spitzer, an ornithologist who has studied ospreys for a very long time and took a great interest in our nest. When Tom came to us, his feathers were extremely mottled, leading to his Calico Tom label by Dr. Spitzer. Put the two together and voila, we had our Calico Tom The Fishing Fool.

As nature would have it, a wayward fledging made his way to Tom and Audrey’s nest soon after Tom and Audrey adopted the two youngsters, and then there were three. The new osprey was dubbed “E.T.”. Tom and Audrey raised all three as their own. There are some great blogs from that summer which I think you would enjoy. You may find them in the archives, look for the 2015 blogs. I would recommend “Big News” dated 6/4/2015, “Father’s Day Revisited-A Blast From the Past” dated 6/21/2015, “Who Said You Can’t Fool Mother Nature” dated 7/9/2015 and “E.T. Phone Home” dated 7/23/2015. All of the details about that incredible season may be found in those blogs.

Rest In Peace, Calico Tom The Fishing Fool. The osprey world was a better place with you in it. We will miss you. Photo taken July 2018-Tom with one of his prodigious catches

But the circle of life goes on. Here is a spectacular Full Harvest Moon rising over the water at the secret location on September 9, 2022, the day after the last photo was taken of Calico Tom.

Full Harvest Moon behind the house-September 2022

I know I inundate you with sunrise photos, but since our water view is to the east south east, we do get to enjoy some spectacular vistas in the morning.

A little while later, the sun had risen further and was casting its shining path on the water behind the house.

A little while later during the same sunrise from the previous photo. Wow!

We are always so sad to see our ospreys leave us for their winter digs. On an up note, when the ospreys leave, we see more of the eagles. As often as we see and hear the eagles, they still invoke a thrill. This is what we observed on September 18.

That’s some funny looking osprey. He put on pants and bleached his head feathers!

A week later, there was a stirring sight on the top of Joe’s Big Tree.

Our national birds at the top of Joe’s Big Tree. How regal, don’t you think?

As September turned into October, all was quiet at the secret location. The Full Hunter Moon graced us with her presence.

The October 2022 Full Hunter Moon making her presence known as she rises over the horizon

As the moon rose higher, she cast her light on the water behind the house. When the moon is this bright, there are shadows cast from the trees in the yard.

I still haven’t perfected getting the moon and water in focus at the same time, but you get the idea

It happened a little later than usual, but on November 29, 2022, the nest was removed and poles/camera taken down. I have posted many of these takedowns, so have tried to abbreviate the events of the day. Many of the photos are self-explanatory, so are not captioned.

The nest has been removed, and sadly floats off to the north with the incoming tide.

Au revoir, faithful nest! You served our osprey family well.

COM, Dean and Phil readying the camera pole for take-down. The kayak contains the trash pump used for jetting the poles in and out.

COM is slowly lowering down the pole using the pulley system. It is critical not to let the camera go in the drink

Phil gets the heavy end. COM is using his head (not really, optical illusion)

Out of the water and onto the dock. It’s really heavy

Now for the nest pole. Phil is taking off the crossbar that stabilized the two poles together

The watery trudge back to the dock. Dean gets the heavy end this time. Age trumps strength, so COM pushes along the floating kayak

Two markers are placed in the underwater support pipes to mark the spots to reinstall the poles in the spring. Here is the first one, along with our faithful really big stepladder

Phil and Dean jetting out the muck from inside the poles with the trash pump, which is in the kayak out of view

You can see the trash pump in the kayak, with the hose hanging off to the right side

The two markers for use in the spring. This is where the poles were located, which are now secured for the winter

Take a good look at the above photo and see if you notice anything special. Extra credit to anyone who is paying attention to detail and posts your observation in the comment section of the blog.

As usual, many, many thanks to our friends Phil and Dean from the Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage. They are truly dedicated to our magnificent Chesapeake Bay, one osprey pole or monarch butterfly tagging or purple martin house at a time.

One of our favorite parts about winter at the secret location is the arrival of our tundra swans from their summer home in the cooler climes to the north. They return in November, and stay until around the time the ospreys return in March. COM started feeding them many, many years ago, so now we all get to enjoy their beauty every winter.

Tundra swans enjoying a free meal of whole dried corn off the dock in December

I know it feels like I just posted photos and commentary on the fall take-down of the poles. You would be correct, because I did! But here we are on March 6, 2023, putting the poles back up for the 2023 season. As I was working in the morning, I didn’t get in on the action until the activities were well under way. As always, our friends from the Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage, Phil and Dean were on hand. They were joined by their happy, willing helpers, Michael and Patrick from the Chesapeake Conservancy.

The nest platform was the first to be installed

The ladder needs to be just in the right position to get the job done and not land anyone in the drink

Here comes the camera pole. The heavy end is being carried by the very sturdy Dean, skillfully keeping the camera out of the water

A practical application of Physics 101, using a pulley system to lift the heavy camera end of the pole

Handing Phil the crossbar that stabilizes the two poles

How many hands does it take to screw in an osprey pole? There is a joke in there somewhere, I am sure

Success! Mission accomplished for Spring 2023. Now all we need are a couple of ospreys

Clean-up time. You should recognize some of these items from the November take-down

Michael and Patrick bringing the super duper stepladder back to land via the dock

Dean giving Patrick a lesson in the fine art of removing a kayak from the water. The master is teaching the student. Patrick proved to be a quick learner

It takes a village. Kayak items being taken to terra firma

You may have noticed someone missing from the spring set-up photos. In early December, COM became gravely ill with a systemic MRSA infection following a routine skin cancer surgery, and was not expected to live. We were told if he had not been taken to the emergency department the evening he was admitted (by a person who will go unrecognized, but you know well), he would not have been with us the next morning. Additionally, if he hadn’t been in such good shape for an older gentleman, he would not have survived. But the number one reason COM pulled through was due to the extraordinary care he received at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland from the time he arrived at the Emergency Department to the day he was discharged. The medical and ancillary staff at AAMC are all superb medical care professionals. They absolutely saved his life and aided in his recovery. We are incredibly fortunate to have a medical facility of their caliber in our community. COM spent four weeks in the ICU, three weeks on a regular floor of the hospital, six weeks in rehab and five weeks in a one-story air bnb receiving home health care. For a man who wasn’t expected to live, COM is doing great. Although not back to one hundred percent, he is getting closer every day and is almost there.

The happy crew and supervisor. From left to right-Patrick, Michael, COM, Phil and Dean. I know I baked something delicious for everyone, but the tidbit of information as to what it was has left my memory bank.

With everything in place, we just sat back to wait and watch. Just like clockwork, on March 17, our beloved Audrey returned from her winter vacation.

Audrey back right on schedule on St. Paddy’s Day! How do they do that?

There weren’t many swans still with us that day, but a small welcoming committee of mother, father and a juvenile swan was on hand for Audrey’s return.

Mama Swan, Papa Swan and Baby Swan (the grey one) welcome Audrey back to the secret location on March 17, 2023

Audrey was having a nice rest waiting for the return of Calico Tom the Fishing Fool.

Audrey in Joe’s Big Tree, which was getting ready to start leafing out

I will share one more March photo before moving on to April.

A stunning March sunrise at the secret location

Now here is something you don’t see every day. I was at my kitchen sink on April 24, when some movement down on the riprap caught my eye. I quickly realized it was a fox, and it was poking at something down in the rocks. The Circle of Life is alive and well.

Take a close look in the fox’s mouth. Yes, that would be a black snake who was probably sunning on the rocks before being rudely interrupted and eventually eaten by a hungry fox.

We were all waiting with great anticipation for Calico Tom to return, but alas, it was not to be. A new couple attempted to take over the nest, but Audrey would have no parts of it. After many osprey battles and much defending of territory, Audrey accepted a new male, Tom IV. The Circle of Life was complete, and osprey life at the secret location began anew for the 2023 season.

The current occupants of our nest as seen soon after Audrey started tolerating her new Tom. Audrey has been with us since 2010, and now we start a count for her new partner.

Audrey and Tom posing with their marked sticks.

A few days later, with the nest starting to take shape, Tom and Audrey are learning about each other.

Tom and Audrey. Here is a close-up view of the crossbar.

Some perspective of how the crossbar is situated between the two poles.

There is always sometime lovely to see at the secret location. Due to our expansive views, the clouds can be magnificent.

In addition to some awesome cloud photos, Mother Nature treats us to some stupendous rainbow vistas. I truly never tire of seeing the rainbows.

A truly magnificent vista in the late afternoon sun. The storm is off on the horizon, leaving behind one of nature’s wonders.

Audrey has always loved the NEMA box at the end of the dock. This continues to be one of her favorite dining locations.

Look! Audrey is sporting a new fu manchu!

Oh, no! She swallowed her mustache. That is going to be one heck of a hairball when she coughs it up!

Tom and Audrey took some time to get used to each other. Audrey was coy for a while, then came to realize that this new fellow was going to be the only game in town. After she played hard to get for many days, she succumbed to her new mate’s charms and prowess (wink, wink).

On May 1, 2023, Egg#1 made its way into the nest. It was followed by Egg #2 on May 4 and Egg #3 on May 8. There were happy dances all around, and joy in the Secret Location Kingdom. A moment of terror occurred when one of the multitudes of dastardly crows decided he felt like an omelet. We all looked in horror as he tried to peck his way into one of our precious orbs. A voice from the heavens interceded and saved the day. We are fortunate to have a two-way microphone on the camera and extraordinary osprey devotees to keep watch. You know who you are, and many thanks for everything you do!

COM and I did some traveling the end of May into early June, and were hoping to be back in time for the first hatch, which we were. On June 12, our beautiful chick made its way out of Egg #2. It would turn out to be the only hatch we had, but given the age and inexperience of Tom, it was probably a good thing.

Tom is a young male, and it took him a while to get into the swing of things as far as providing for his family. There was much consternation at the secret location and amongst our viewers, as it seemed Tom was being a little osprey piggie and had not learned to share his catches. Fortunately, he had a short learning curve, and picked up the importance of his duties after about a week. I am quite sure that Audrey’s admonitions helped to push him along. She can be incredibly vocal and pushy, and that’s one of the reasons we love her! After holding our collective breaths for several days, we all breathed many sighs of relief as Tom finally got it, bringing needed sustenance to his chick. Whew!

Tom arriving with a bloody fish. Look very closely for the hidden head way down in the nest.

Try as I did, the next photo is either pre-poop or post-poop. What do you think? I was close, so close.

The voting is now open! Post your choice in the comment section of the blog! Pre or post?

Now you see her, now you don’t. Molly’s camouflage is amazing.

Molly to Audrey: Well, are you just going to stand there and hide that fish, or are you going to feed your starving offspring?

Audrey is still hiding the fish, and Molly is pretending she doesn’t care.

No season would be complete without our protector and defender of the nest, Roger. He was back on duty to keep away the Great Horned Owls that ravaged our nest one year and carried away a newly hatched chick. Knock on wood, we have not lost a chick to a GHO since Roger came on the scene.

Roger back on duty. The Great Horned Owls are running (read-flying) scared (we hope). He is rather formidable, especially when doing his little GHO scare dance

In the below photo, Tom has retrieved a large bolus of stuff, not further identified, to bring back to the nest. He has caught the eye of a hungry gull, who is looking for some leftovers. I am not sure there is anything edible clutched in those talons.

Tom does not like the Crazy Lady with the camera. It’s gotten to the point that as soon I step out of the house with the camera, he takes off. This makes it very difficult to get many decent photos of him. As soon as I took the above photo, he headed back to the nest with haste.

Tom skedaddles back to the nest with his haul, trying to avoid Mrs. COM

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Audrey is giving Molly a squawking lesson. Tom is contemplating when to make his escape. Check out the noose-like rope hanging off the nest to the left. It’s been there for weeks, but can’t be seen from the camera view

Tom and Mrs. COM having a stare-down while Audrey feeds Molly

Molly in mid-bite while open-mouthed Tom stands guard

Tom has decided he had quite enough of the crazy lady with the camera and prepares to leave. Audrey is not phased and keeps feeding her offspring.

Tom took off and went back to his favorite roost, the top of the swan camera pole that is now permanently attached to a pole on the dock for winter viewing. I find it interesting that he never uses the crossbar or the little perch on the top of the osprey camera pole. Those were Calico Tom’s favorite perches, but now they never get used.

Tom’s preferred perch. He is giving Mrs. COM the hairy (feathered?) eyeball and is about to leave. He always flies to the north from that vantage point

I could just make him out in the distance on a chair on a dock to the north of us

Molly is truly her mother’s daughter at an early age. Check out the open squawking mouth in the below photo.

I have titled this photo “Open-mouth chick with noose”

Tom is on his favorite perch, drying off his wings on a hot day.

Ahh, that feels good on an uncomfortable day

Looking my way and preparing to take off, which he did

Audrey has always been a noisy girl. Here she is in full yakking mode.

Audrey in full squawking mode. Where’s Molly? Look hard

Two can play the same noisy game, although Tom may be yakking at me, trying to scare me off. He doesn’t know I don’t scare easily.

Not to be outdone, Tom continues the clamor

That’s it for now, this blog is way too long. I will pick up next time on July 25, 2023, the day Molly received her new bling from Craig Koppie.

One last good-bye to our Calico Tom The Fishing Fool.

Until next time, we remain-

Crazy Osprey Man, Mrs. Crazy Osprey Man and Osprey Girl

If you are enjoying the osprey camera and blog, please consider a donation to the Chesapeake Conservancy so they are able to continue supporting programs such as this one. Go to http://chesapeakeconservancy.org today. Thanks very much!

The Circle of Life Part Two-September 2022 through 7/24/2023

Posted on August 8, 2023 by ospreycam

NOTE: DEAR BLOG READERS-I JUST SPENT HOURS AND HOURS WRITING THIS BLOG. WHEN I WENT TO PUBLISH IT, NOTHING SAVED BUT THE BELOW COUPLE OF PARAGRAPHS. I WILL ATTEMPT TO RECREATE IT, BUT AM FEELING QUITE DISCOURAGED AT THE MOMENT SO I DON’T KNOW WHEN I WILL GET TO IT. THANKS FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING

In my last blog, I left you at the end of August 2022, with only Tom remaining at the secret location. Let’s pick it up from September 2022. There are so many spectacular sunrises here, it is always hard to choose which ones to post. Here is a pretty one from September 3.

Tom spent the rest of his time with us enjoying his usual activities. Without a youngster to monitor, he had his time to himself. Here he is on his favorite crossbar.

Here he is enjoyed the view from the top of the swan camera, which is now permanently mounted on the dock

The Circle of Life-Part One, July-August 2022

Posted on June 11, 2023 by ospreycam

Hold My Beer-A Request From Mother Nature

Posted on July 6, 2022 by ospreycam

Good morning from the ever-lovely Eastern Shore of Maryland. Well, well, well, once again our nest is full of wonder and surprise. At the end of my last blog, one of our three eggs had been accidentally broken by a clumsy visiting young osprey, and the dastardly crows had destroyed the last two remaining eggs. Our usually faithful but quirky Audrey had flown the coop (so to speak), and was no where to be found. Our season seemed to be over before it had hardly started. But had it? There had been a young female osprey making regular visits to the nest. Although Tom seemed interested in this younger woman, she did not seem to be interested in his advances. All eyes and the camera were waiting and watching to see how this new drama would unfold. Little did we know about the events that would soon occur at the secret location.

After being gone for several days, Audrey returned like nothing had ever happened. She unceremoniously dispatched the young interloper, and got right back to business. The nest, which had not been one of Tom and Audrey’s more substantial undertakings, began to take shape with noticeably more attention from our favorite osprey couple. They hung out together in all of the usual places. Our two lovebirds began behaving like it was still March and they hadn’t seen each other for many months. Chatter amongst our camera-watching fans revolved around Tom and Audrey’s seemingly normal actions (had the season just been starting). Hope began to grow that perhaps, for the first time in the history of our nest, a second clutch of eggs might be in the works.

Tom and Audrey hanging out together in the nest, with Tom either in mid-blink or trying to catch a few winks. The nest is looking rather paltry at the moment.

Don’t you dare close your eyes when I’m trying to talk to you, screeches Audrey.

Damn, woman, can’t a guy get a little shut-eye around here? Tom is now awake.

Togetherness-Tom and Audrey on the ladder which is being stored on the dock.

Sort of togetherness-Tom on the boat lift, Audrey on the NEMA box post.

Togetherness-Audrey and Tom on the boat lift, with the winter camera in view.

Togetherness while Tom is thinking “Would someone please shut her up?”

As May progressed, it was hard to believe there had ever been a first clutch of eggs. On the face of things, it looked like a normal spring return. Tom and Audrey were working diligently on the nest and were enjoying each other’s company (wink, wink).

Audrey on one of her favorite hang-outs, the NEMA box. Take note of how clean the new box looked in early May. Hardly an entrail in sight.

One-legged Tom on one of his favorite haunts, COM’s boat lift.

The May Full Moon, or Strawberry Moon, was glorious. Here are a few photos from a most special evening with friends, howling on the end of the dock.

The moon rose before the sun had fully set. I am still having trouble getting the moon to look as beautiful in my photos as it does through the camera lens.

The moon looked completely in focus and had magnificent detail looking through the camera lens, but not in the photo. Maybe I need a tripod and shoot with a slower speed? Anyone?

After it was completely dark, Tom and Audrey’s silhouettes could be seen against the glow of the moon on the water. Spectacular!

Life at the nest had taken on a regular, nothing to see here kind of vibe. Tom and Audrey were acting like, well, Tom and Audrey.

Tom appears a little wet up on his favorite look-out. And Audrey, well it is Audrey, letting him know she could use a little snack.

Audrey hanging out at the nest on a dreary day. We never could figure out what the grassy-looking addition was, but it wasn’t visible for too long.

Here at the secret location, we dared not hope beyond hope that a second clutch of eggs was imminent. The first clutch had barely been laid when the three eggs met their untimely demise. Tom and Audrey were acting just like they normally did prior to laying a clutch of eggs. All of the reading and research we had been doing indicated that a second clutch was indeed possible if the first clutch was lost early. And then on May 31, Mother Nature showed up and said “Hold my beer”! So we did, and…..

Lo and behold, Egg #1 of Clutch #2 arrived! Happy day and great joy all around!! First time for a second clutch at the secret location, thank you Mother Nature!

Here is Audrey tending to Egg #1 of Clutch #2. Isn’t the nest looking marvelous?

Tom on the NEMA box waiting his turn while Audrey does her motherly duties

A couple of days later, I spied Tom drying off on COM’s boat lift.

Yes, I’m really wet. Want to throw me a towel, or are you just going to stand there and take photos, Mrs. COM?

While Tom is drying off, someone is reminding him she is still tending to their eggs, and is really hungry. Take a look at the nest, looking much better than it did during the first clutch and for the few days after Audrey disappeared.

And while Tom is drying off, someone is reminding him that she is still there and still hungry.

Tom has had enough of Mrs. COM and her ever-present camera. He takes off to the north.

Tom trying to escape from the crazy woman with the camera.

Tom lands on a neighbor’s dock a few houses to the north of us.

I am not sure if this is one of our ospreys. I don’t think so, because it flew off to the east which is not like Tom or Audrey. But I thought is was cool, so took a photo while I was out there.

Some birdy will be happy to have this piece of decor arrive at their nest.

On June 3, 2022, Mother Nature asked us to hold her beer once again, and Egg #2 of Clutch #2 made its way into the nest. As in years past, Tom took his Fishing Fool duties seriously, and kept Audrey well-fed. Tom is no dummy, and knows when he brings Audrey a snack she leaves, so he gets to incubate the eggs. He loves, loves, loves to incubate those eggs.

Audrey is trying to have a nice, quiet meal on the dock next door to the south when you-know-who comes sneaking around. Audrey is not happy.

Maybe if I make myself look big, the camera lady will get scared and leave. It’s worth a try, thinks Audrey.

Nope, didn’t work, so I guess I’ll leave. I’ll show her.

Mrs. COM manages to intercept Audrey for one more photo before she escapes the camera.

Tom enjoying his incubation time. The further away Audrey flies, the more time he gets to stay on the eggs. Chase her some more, Mrs. COM!

We were all waiting to see if there would be an Egg #3 in Clutch #2. Audrey was taking a break one morning before the sun was fully up when I saw her on Osprey Girl’s boat lift.

Audrey enjoying a lovely breakfast on the dock.

An enchanting sunrise the next morning.

Another day, another wet osprey. I’m not sure if Tom was successful, but it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying.

I’m still waiting for that towel, Mrs. COM.

It became obvious a few days after Egg #2 of Clutch #2 was laid that Audrey had laid her last egg for the season. I think five eggs in one season for one older osprey is plenty, don’t you?

Now the wondering was over and the waiting began in earnest. I continued to keep an eye out for photo ops, and have way too many photos once again. I guess I should have written another blog a month ago, but I didn’t. So now you will have to slog through all of these photos that I am going to display for your viewing pleasure.

Here is Audrey in what remains of the scraggly stick tree, which is not much.

Audrey’s punk look on a dreary day in the scraggly stick tree.

Another angle of Audrey in the sst (scraggly stick tree for the uninitiated)

As you may have noticed, Tom and Audrey are wonderful co-parents. I think Tom would incubate the eggs all the time if Audrey would let him (which she won’t). Here is a changing of the guard.

Audrey returns to the nest, but Tom is in no hurry to leave.

A break from osprey photos is in order. What do you see in these clouds?

I see two alligators fighting. The one on the right is taking a bite out of the one on the left. Any one else?

Tom on our ladder/crab net storage device on a sunny afternoon.

Here is a series of photos starting with Audrey taking a late afternoon break with Tom in the nest. This is a typical scenario of late.

It starts with Audrey on the dock next door, trying to encourage Tom to go fishing and let her take over in the nest.

Between Mrs. COM, the camera and being hungry, Audrey decides to take matters into her own “hands” and fly back to the nest.

Back to the nest she goes, yakking all the way.

Audrey arriving back at the nest while getting the hairy eyeball from Tom. No help needed here, his body language is saying.

Tom is ignoring Audrey, and she seems perplexed.

Okay, Tom, this is not funny. Hmmm, now what, Audrey thinks.

Tom finally acquiesced, but not willingly.

Another break from osprey photos. This is an early morning work boat headed out to earn a living.

Headed out before sunrise. A Chesapeake Bay workboat and a duck blind (the duck blind is not heading out, just the boat).

A few moments later, the sun makes its first appearance of the day, and the vista is quite lovely.

Lighting up the sky and water, so lovely.

I have a gorgeous butterfly bush in the rip-rap behind the house that grew from being a volunteer. It is magnificent, and the butterflies love it. COM cuts it back every fall to about one third of its size, but it comes back bigger and better than ever every year.

My butterfly bush with the pole complex out in the water. Look closely for an osprey head in the nest.

Tom is taking his turn incubating while Audrey is on the NEMA box, one of her favorite places to eat.

Tom in the nest incubating our two precious eggs from Clutch #2.

Audrey on the NEMA box while Tom is in the nest. Notice that the NEMA box isn’t quite as clean as it was earlier in the season? It’s actually quite disgusting close up.

You may have noticed that there is a really, really big stick in the nest. I wouldn’t even classify it as a stick, I would call it a small log. I did not see it arrive, but there is very little chance it will blow out! Here is a different view of it than you are able to see from the camera.

How did they get that huge stick/small log up there? I wish I could have seen that delivery. Tom is incubating.

Both Tom and Audrey like to hang out on various docks in the immediate vicinity of our dock. Here is Audrey on the dock one house to the south of us, practicing her one-legged stance.

I will just ignore Mrs. COM and her camera, and maybe she will go away.

Another photo of Audrey in the scraggly stick tree (sst, remember for next time).

Another dreary day for Audrey in the sst.

Audrey arrives back at the nest while Tom is thinking, “are you back already? I don’t want to leave”.

Has anyone wondered about Roger this season? As you may remember, COM placed him at his duty station earlier in the season, then put him away after losing the first clutch of eggs. Well, Roger is back! In anticipation of a potential hatch in a few days, Roger is back at work with a new shirt (new for Roger) for this year.

Now you don’t. Look carefully at both photos!

Welcome back, Roger! Take that, you Great Horned Owls!

I will post a few more random photos before closing for this blog.

Hey, Audrey, whatcha doin’? I think someone is calling you, better go check it out.

I almost always post sunrise/moonrise photos, but here is a little snippet of sunset across the street from the front of the house. The sunsets have been spectacular of late, the sunrises have been rather bland.

Sunset over the trees, not our view over the water.

Tom on Osprey Girl’s boat lift in the late afternoon sun.

Leaving Mrs. COM’s prying eyes on the way back to the nest.

Tom arriving back at the nest just in time to get an earful from Audrey. He is stuck between a rock and a hard place for sure, the camera or the yapper?

The hour is late, and I have posted way too many photos for one blog. Nonetheless, I hope you have enjoyed them. When next we speak, finger crossed for two new additions to our favorite osprey family!

Before I finish up, I would be remiss without an absolutely humongous shout-out to our dear friend Poppy. Thank you, thank you, Poppy, for all of your hard work and dedication to our osprey family and others over the past years. We all miss you terribly, but understand that it was time to step back. I hope you are watching and reading from afar, and know how much we all appreciate what you have done to further the love of ospreys all over the world.

I will leave you with some of my deck flowers.

Looking good before the heat of summer really sets in.

Until next time, we remain-

Crazy Osprey Man, Mrs. Crazy Osprey Man and Osprey Girl.

Ospreys, Omicron, Occupation and Ova

Posted on May 3, 2022 by ospreycam

Good evening from the perplexing, topsy-turvy, never a dull moment Eastern Shore of Maryland! I have started this blog several times over the past few days, and keep having to change the tone and direction of my musings. For my own sanity, this is going to be it, and if something should change later today, so be it!

So here are the facts as I know them: On March 6, 2022, we were very fortunate to have had a visit from Joe and Andrew from Explore at the secret location. They moved the old camera to the dock to be able to view our swans in the winter. The next day, our dear friends Phil and Dean from the Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage and Michael from the Chesapeake Conservancy put the camera and nest poles back in place. With the help of COM, Joe and Andrew, a new camera was installed on the camera pole for better viewing and sound. The NEMA box was rewired to allow the Explore camera operators to switch between the dock camera and pole camera. Here are a few photos from that install.

Andrew working on the dock camera while Joe is rewiring the NEMA box. COM has his hands in his pockets waiting for orders. You can see the camera pole with perch to the right of COM while Joe wires it up.

The sun has disappeared, and the day became quite chilly as evidenced by COM’s newly donned coat. The swans were hoping for a hand-out.

By this time in March, most of our swans had already left for their summer digs up north. A few hardy souls remained, and were duly rewarded with corn every morning.

Dean, COM, Andrew and Phil installing the camera pole.

Phil is getting ready to attach the cross piece which stabilizes the two poles and keeps them moving at the same time in the same direction during wind and wave action.

The kayak contains a trash pump, which is used to jet the poles into the bottom. Dean is pulling it back to land.

With all the equipment installed and ready to go, our handy dandy giant step ladder is carried back to land along with the trash pump kayak.

Our new camera in place next to the nest platform.

Our newest addition at the secret location is a dedicated camera on the dock for winter viewing. Now COM doesn’t have to move the camera to the dock every winter, which was not an easy task.

A close-up of the new permanent dock camera. Thank you, Joe, Andrew and Explore!

Our dedicated crew-Michael, Andrew, COM, Joe, Phil and Dean with the pole complex in the background so you can get some perspective of where it is.

I will tell you one quick story before moving on to other facts that I know. In 1960, COM’s parents gave him a socket wrench as payment for painting their house. He used the wrench to build a hot rod while he was in high school. This wrench has stayed in his voluminous tool collection ever since, and has been used to secure the cross beam between the poles for many years. As everything was being cleaned up, COM realized his beloved socket wrench was no longer in his waders. A massive search ensued, with the wrench eventually being found, but not before a water search was conducted by Dean and Phil. I was so relieved the wrench was found, I really didn’t want to see a grown man cry.

Dean and Phil searching for COM’s socket wrench in the water. Talk about finding a needle in a hay stack! What dedication, what resolve, how fruitless.

Audrey returned on March 18, 2022. We were all so happy to see her. Tom wasn’t far behind, and made his way back to the secret location on March 26, 2022. On March 19, 2022, COM and Mrs. COM left for a fifteen day vacation with another couple, dear friends who used to be neighbors and have since moved to Florida. The sojourn included two days in Lisbon, followed by a cruise to Madeira and the Canary Islands, with a return date of April 2, 2022. April 1 was April Fool’s Day here in the United States, but there was no fooling when Mrs. COM and her friend Sue tested positive for COVID after taking a mandatory rapid antigen test on the ship (confirmed by a PCR test) to be able to fly back to the United States the next morning. We were both fully vaccinated and boosted, and had tested negative twice before boarding the ship. COM and Tom tested negative, and were able to leave as planned on April 2. Sue and I remained in Lisbon in COVID prison until April 11, when we were permitted to fly back home. I can assure you that there is a much longer story about Linda and Sue’s Great COVID Adventure, but that is another story for another day with a different audience. Bottom line is that my 15 day trip turned into a 25 day trip, way longer than I had ever anticipated or wanted. Hence the Omicron portion of this blog title.

During our time away, I kept a close watch on the goings on at the nest, complemented by information from our dear friend Poppy, who at the time was a moderator extraordinaire on the Explore Chesapeake Osprey site. She kept me up to date with the rotten cold, windy, rainy weather. From past experience, we know our ospreys, especially Audrey, do not like that type of weather. They were absent from the nest platform for extended periods of time, but eventually started nest building. Before we left for our trip, many sticks were put out in the back yard to give Tom and Audrey a head start with some prefab building materials. It did not go unnoticed that some of the sticks were adorned with blue and yellow ribbon in solidarity with Ukraine. Poppy is a true friend to the Crazy Osprey Family, and we will miss her sound counsel and voluminous osprey knowledge as part of the Explore organization.

Sticks in the back yard adorned with blue and yellow ribbons ready for pick-up.

The nest was visited by other neighboring ospreys, both male and female. During an extended absence by Audrey, one female osprey in particular was persistent in trying to claim squatter’s rights. She was dubbed “The New Lady” by Poppy. The New Lady was resistant to Tom’s attempts at osprey nookie, and was quite proficient in blocking Tom’s attempts to build a nest. This new drama caused consternation among our viewers, and much speculation about the new female occupant of the nest. As predicted by Poppy, Audrey reappeared to reclaim her rightful place as the Grand Dame of the secret location, and all seemed right again. The nest continued toward its former glory as the egg wait began.

The return of Audrey on March 18. She is viewing her digs from way up high in Joe’s big tree.

A closer view of Audrey in the tree on 3/19/2022

This was as close as I could get without scaring her off. I can always tell when she has had enough by her head bobbing and unhappy sounds.

The above photos were the last I took before Linda and Sue’s Great COVID Adventure. My photo journal resumed on April 12, the morning after I successfully received my boarding pass (with some trepidation it wouldn’t happen). I received a stupendous welcome home present from Mother Nature.

My welcome home sunrise gift from Mother Nature

April 12 turned out to be a great day to be home to gather photos for my next blog. Calico Tom the Fishing Fool was in full fishing fool mode.

A yummy bite from an unfortunate fish while on the swim ladder of my neighbor’s dock two doors to the south of us.

I love the ooey, gooey parts, thinks Tom.

Tom’s exorcist impression. Just please don’t throw up green vomit!

Tom takes his fish from the swim ladder to our neighbor’s boat lift. Do you think the fake owl is keeping the ospreys away?

I don’t know about you, but I kind of think the owl has lost his effectiveness.

The great photo ops continued on April 12. I looked out my kitchen window to an incredible chase between an eagle and two ospreys, one of which had a fish. The eagle was trying to purloin the fish from one of the ospreys, and the second osprey came in to defend his pal. As you can imagine, the action was fast and furious. Most of the photos I took didn’t focus on the action, but on the houses on land. I was able to get a few usable ones, but they aren’t the greatest photos in my repertoire.

Osprey with fish on the left being chased by an eagle in the center, with a second osprey in the mix on the right

The eagle is much bigger than the osprey

A little while later after the aerial battle was over, I caught Audrey on a stick hunt after she left the paltry nest.

Audrey waiting in the nest for Tom to bring her some dinner.

She gives up on Tom, and begins searching for the perfect stick.

Audrey headed to the Crazy Osprey Family stick farm and snagged one, but my camera focused on the grass instead of her, and the photo was unpostable. You will just have to believe me on this one! I was able to get one in focus as she flew back to the nest.

And back to the nest she goes. The nest could use some help.

Audrey looks quite proud of herself. That was a big stick.

Time to start rearranging the furniture. Tom is no help as he gives himself a manicure at the top of the camera pole on his favorite perch.

April 12, 2022 was a great day for my camera. It was a good thing, because for the rest of April except for the weekends and two other days, I worked every day. Now you know where the “Occupation” part of my blog title originated.

While we all watched and waited for the first egg to be laid, Tom and Audrey continued to add to their nest and get to know each other again (wink, wink) after their long hiatus. Their meet and greets (wink, wink) paid off on April 19, when Audrey presented us with her first beautiful egg.

The proud almost papa on COM’s boat lift on April 20, with two close ups following

Just on schedule, Audrey laid her second glorious orb on April 22, 2022, which was preceded by an equally glorious rainbow the day before on April 21.

This was a full rainbow, but so large I couldn’t capture the entire arch.

The opposite end of the rainbow as it fades away.

The day after Audrey presented Tom with their second egg, the proud papa spent some time on top of the dock camera while Audrey incubated.

Tom surveying his kingdom on the day after the second egg arrived.

Audrey right below the camera pole, nestled down on the two eggs.

Audrey took a little break from the nest on April 24 while Tom took over incubating duties. There was no doubt who was on the NEMA box. Guess why?

Getting ready for a changing of the guard.

Audrey flies to the NEMA box, and joins her purple martin buddies. Mrs. COM loves, loves, loves the purple martins. They sing the sweetest songs ever. But they dive bomb me when I walk out on the dock, must have some eggs in there!

After Audrey arrives at the NEMA box, she gives Tom an earful. “Hey buddy, I am supposed to be eating on this box!”

Looking over at Tom on the nest. “Hey, buddy, let’s get moving!”

I guess you couldn’t hear me the first time. Let’s try this again, louder this time.

April 24 was the day before the third and last egg was laid. COM and I witnessed one of the more amazing sights we ever see here at the secret location. Fortunately, it was a Sunday and I was home and not working. I looked out the window to see Tom diving for a fish and catching it. As he tried to fly off with his meal, it became obvious that the fish was too big for Tom to carry. After several failed attempts to become airborne with his prize catch, Tom decided to swim the fish into shore. It was an amazing sight to say the least. I am not going to comment on each of the photos in the next series. What you will be seeing are Tom’s attempts to get airborne, which failed, and what was happening in between each attempt to fly. As Tom reaches the rip-rap (the large rocks protecting the shoreline from erosion), he loses the fish and flies off. He certainly gave it his all, but the fish was just too big. Thank you, COM, for taking some photos while I ran upstairs to get properly dressed for a photo session in the back yard on a Sunday morning.

Tom has lost Moby Dick, and flies to Joe’s big tree to dry off.

While Tom has been doing battle with Moby Dick, Audrey has been watching with great anticipation while conducting her incubation duties in the nest, and is mentally cheering him on.

Come on, Tom, you can do it, you big, strong, handsome osprey. Do it for Mama, come on Tom, please?

Even with Audrey’s urging, it couldn’t be done. Several minutes later, I saw a really big, really dead fish floating out from the shore. I am fairly certain it was Moby Dick, and took a photo, but it was too far out to capture the size of the one that got away.

Tom drying off way up in Joe’s big tree after doing battle with the whale.

Maybe if I lift one wing, I will dry out faster, thinks Tom

Audrey laid her third and last egg right on schedule the next day, April 25, much to everyone’s delight. The weather remained cold and windy, and I was starting to feel uneasy when Audrey didn’t seem to be incubating her eggs (ova per blog title above) properly. The last time I saw Audrey before yesterday was on April 27 as she hunkered down in the rip-rap trying to stay out of the cold wind.

Audrey is hunkered down in the rip-rap on a cold, windy day.

On April 29, just four days after the laying of the third egg, tragedy ensued at the nest. Audrey had not been seen for a couple of days. The eggs were unattended, and the New Lady visited the nest, only to step on one of the eggs and break it. Shortly thereafter, a dastardly crow discovered the newly broken egg, and devoured it. The second egg was soon to follow. After trying with gusto to break and eat the third egg, the crow gave up. Several more times that day, crows arrived to attack the remaining egg with no success. Obviously, the egg had some type of abnormality and the shell was way too thick for even a crow to break. On May 1, 2022, a crow finally succeeded in breaking into the last remaining egg. The empty nest sat as a sentinel, reminding us of yet another unfulfilled promise of new life in our little osprey world. I could hardly bear to look out the window, with the nest and camera poles standing silently and without activity. A simmering melancholy fell over the secret location, as well as over all of the faithful camera watchers and blog readers in our midst. The season was over before it barely began.

Or was it? The New Lady visited the nest several times after Audrey’s disappearance, and she and Tom seemed to be maintaining a truce, although it didn’t last long. There was some hope that this New Lady might interest Tom and salvage the season, but things didn’t work out. Tom chased her off several times, and she didn’t come back. We were all worried about the fate of Audrey, who still had not been seen.

While at work today, I received a text from Poppy, telling me that Audrey was back. Where had she been? We will never know. I do not have any answers as to why she didn’t behave as a female osprey should, not incubating her eggs properly and disappearing for days at a time. I am not an ornithologist, or educated in the way of birds. All I have learned about ospreys and their behavior has been gleaned from observations, reading and talking to others who are experts. So I don’t have an explanation for you as to why this keeps happening. I will try to talk to some real experts, listen to their opinions and report back in the next blog.

What I do know is that I am so relieved to have Audrey back, and in full voice I might add. I do not know what will happen for the rest of the season. But it is still early. She didn’t arrive back at the secret location last season until April 28, 2021, after I had already written my obituary blog in her memory. Her first egg wasn’t laid until May 14 last season. So I will keep my fingers and toes crossed, and we will have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in store for us over the coming days and weeks. In the words of the immortal Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over”! Here’s hoping!

I know I usually end my blogs with a beautiful photo of a sunrise or moonrise. I have been working more days than not working, and frequently leaving before the sun comes up. My early morning photo taking has been quite stymied. So I will leave you with a photo that I don’t claim to be beautiful, but captures the spring we have been having here at the secret location. The local car wash owners are quite happy. Can you say Claritin?

A thick layer of pollen blankets the water by our rip-rap, turning it green. Gesundheit!

Until next time, we remain,

Crazy Osprey Man, Mrs. Crazy Osprey Man and Osprey Girl

If you are enjoying the osprey camera and blog, please consider a donation to the Chesapeake Conservancy so they ae able to continue supporting programs such as this one. Go to http://chesapeakeconservancy.org today. Thanks very much!

The Master Procrastinator

Posted on February 22, 2022 by ospreycam

Well, look who is back! Welcome to the sunny but chilly Eastern Shore of Maryland. Winter is still with us, but spring is just around the corner. I have annointed myself the Master Procrastinator, and with good reason. The promised last blog of 2021 has officially become the first blog of 2022, but it is here nonetheless. I will pick up where we left off, in early September 2021.

Audrey left us in August, as she usually does, leaving the boys to their own devices. Here is one last Tom and Audrey photo taken just before she left.

Audrey, Calico Tom the Fishing Fool and an unwanted hopeful visitor

C.J. grew bigger and sassier, and definitely inherited her mother’s robust squawking gene.

C.J. has inherited her mother’s robust voice and her father’s penchant for sitting on top of the camera pole

C.J. hanging out at the nest in the late afternoon

Calico Tom The Fishing Fool rarely fails to live up to his moniker. His fishing skills continue to amaze us.

Tom hanging out at the NEMA box on a cloudy day enjoying the fruits (well, sort of) of his labor while Roger continues to pose no threat to Tom’s hard won meal.

One afternoon in September, I looked out to see our fishing fool on the dock picnic table next door to the north. I quite enjoyed observing the events that took place during the fish feast.

Tom was enjoying his fish when he noticed Mrs. COM and her darn camera, and sounded the alarm

Mrs. COM wasn’t the only one who noticed Tom and Moby Dick

Now Tom appears to want my help. Can’t you do something about this bothersome ring-billed gull, Mrs. COM? (so aptly named, don’t you think?)

Tom looks disgusted. Are you kidding me? First the gull, now this dastardly crow?

Enough is enough, says Tom. Time for you to go, crow

The crow decides Tom is not messing around, and leaves without a look back. He knows there will be another fish on another day

And take this while you’re at it, you wretched crow.

Did you notice how slyly I snuck in the best poop shot of the season? I told you I had a good one. Was it worth the wait? You’re welcome!

Some of the lovely parts of living where we do, with the fabulous eastern exposure, are Mother Nature’s vistas. Here are some of them.

September’s glorious full moon shortly before the sun fully set

No changes were made to this photo other than some minor cropping. Are we lucky to live here or what?

And what would a good eastern exposure be without a few sunrise photos?

Looking to the northwest the same morning

Tom seemed to be enjoying his yearly stint at bachelordom. He continued to frequent his usual haunts.

There are many other avian visitors to our secret location in addition to our favorite ospreys. Great Blue Herons are frequently seen, during the day as well as resting in our nest at night. A very adorable young heron spent a great deal of time in and around our area. One cloudy late afternoon, the heron’s presence was not appreciated by Tom.

Tom takes exception to the young heron using his digs and swoops in to stake his claim

Tom has captured the youngster’s attention and junior prepared to take flight

Our young Great Blue Heron likes to explore the surroundings.

The youngster decides to take a stroll down the dock to the north of us

While Tom’s away, a heron takes advantage of the view from the boat lift. COM was quite happy that the front of the heron was closest to his boat and not the back

Time for a sunrise break!

As the ospreys start to leave, we see more and more of our bald eagles. They are such magnificent birds, and still cause a flutter of pride every time we see one.

Way up in Joe’s big tree, a majestic adult bald eagle enjoys a late summer day

This looks like a good place to enjoy a fish, thinks the eagle. Needs a little renovation, but it will work fine for now

The eagle is learning what our ospreys have discovered years ago. The crazy woman with the camera will appear when you least expect it. He leaves with a stick tangled up with his fish. Check out his beak peaking out from under his wings

COM took this photo for me just recently while I was at work. SWEET! Thank you, COM!

C.J. used her last few weeks to hone her fishing skills and hang out. She was quite happy when the purple martin house was stowed for the winter, and took advantage of the newly available perch at the top of the purple martin house pole.

C.J. has that sexy wind-blown look to go along with her yellow bling

Are you feeling like a couple more sunrise and moonrise photos? Well, I feel like posting some!

October full moon. Notice the sun has set earlier

No words needed, just enjoy and marvel at nature

As fall deepened, our beloved ospreys finally headed to their winter climes. It was time for the fall take-down of the poles, nest and cameras. As luck would have it, I was chasing the almighty dollar the day of the work party. I managed to get home for a little while, and was able to memorialize some of the day’s events.

Phil, Dean and COM readying the camera pole for take-down

The nest had to go, and Phil was wearing his gloves this year

The nest and the marked stick are floating off. Not sure where the plastic bag came from, must have been in the nest

The debris scatters, kind of sad. Dean plucked out the marked sticks and the plastic bag. Thank you, Dean!!

Phil and Dean’s faithful kayak, complete with trash pump for jetting the pole in and out

With the nest gone, the lines are attached to be able to safely lower the poles. The camera cannot go in the drink

COM is bringing out some equipment. The wind, weather and tides were being cooperative, which was a nice change from some other years

Down comes the camera pole. Notice the pulley system and lines, well engineered

With the camera pole down, Phil carefully keeps the camera and hopefully the junction box out of the water

The camera pole is back to the dock, allowing Phil to show off some fancy footwork

The camera end of the pole is placed in a wheelbarrow for easier transport. It doesn’t look it, but that pole and camera are incredibly heavy

The nest pole still needs to be removed. Can you see the pulley at the bottom of the platform?

Dean is getting ready to jet out the nest platform pole while Phil is getting posts ready to mark where the poles were located

Poles markers are going in for ease during spring installation

The poles are all gone, and just the super duper stepladder remains to be retrieved

COM is changing out the pole markers with PVC pipe, the reddish colored ones did not work out

The work crew with the camera pole visible resting against the dock. You can see a good view of the perch on top of the pole

The nest platform will remain on the pole this winter, and rest quietly on the riprap awaiting March installation

The camera and junction box which we hoped would be functional for swan watching this winter

I had to go back to work, so wasn’t able to capture any more of the fun and missed taking the obligatory group photo. I hope you were able to get a little taste of the work it required so we are all able to enjoy our favorite osprey family. I want to extend our eternal thanks and gratitude to Phil and Dean of the Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage for their continuing support of our camera and ospreys (and our purple martins). We could not do this without them.

After the cameras were taken down in November (the new daytime tilt pan zoom camera and the infrared camera), we sent the TPZ camera back to the Explore folks for troubleshooting. As I am sure you are well aware, we did not have suitable audio this past season, although the video portion of the transmission was fabulous. We just received the camera back a couple of days ago, and are anxious to determine if the video and audio will be working this season. COM is working very hard to try to capture the last few weeks of swan season for you, so hopefully there will be some good news on that front very soon.

And yet another sunrise photo. It’s been a long winter, you know!

Have you wondered about the fate of the scraggly stick tree over the winter? We have had some ferocious winds, and weren’t sure it would make it, but the tree is still there. It is leaning precariously, but is hanging in there for the time being.

The scraggly stick tree the day of the November pole take-down

The time has come to close for now. I really wanted to get a blog published before the poles were installed this spring, and I made it! I hope you have enjoyed my better late than never words and pictures, and are looking forward to the upcoming season as much as we are here at the secret location. Hopefully the swan camera will be up and running in the next couple of days, so keep your eyes on the camera and will away those pesky highlights!

Here are my last sunrise photos of our off season. Come on, Spring!

Birds in flight just before sunrise (as Mrs. COM freezes her tushy off waiting for that golden orb)

The elusive light pillar, also known as an ice pillar.

Light pillar with a flock of seagulls. Light pillars are somewhat rare, so enjoy!

That’s it for now. Until next time, we remain-

Crazy Osprey Man, Mrs. Crazy Osprey Man and Osprey Girl

CJ All The Way-Part Two

Posted on September 19, 2021 by ospreycam

Good morning from the gorgeous Eastern Shore of Maryland! Well, it’s taken a little longer to get this blog published than I had planned, but get ready to enjoy Part Two of the adventures of our favorite fledging. When last we met, the primary topics were stories and photos from C.J.’s banding. Shortly after her big adventure with Craig and COM, C.J. fledged on August 20, 2021, which was a gloomy, wet day. I guess when nature calls, it’s time to fly. So without further adieu, please enjoy the rest of the story..

Here are some family photos before C.J.’s first flight.

A typical peaceful day at the nest. Tom is on his favorite perch drying his wings, Audrey is on her little post and C.J. is happy to be at home with mom and dad

Now Audrey is looking my way and C.J. is on high alert. Tom figures the girls can take care of themselves, and pays no mind to them or Mrs. COM

A little nature break for you to observe some wild clouds

Can you see the little lamb and plump chicken? Or how about the pig head? What else do you see?

As I mentioned, C.J. took to the skies on a less than ideal day for taking photos. This was her first stop after leaving the safety and security of the only home she had ever known.

C.J.’s first stop after leaving her nest, the good old, large target boat lift.

Such a gloomy day to leave a nice cozy nest

C.J. stayed on the boat lift for a good long while, but not as long as some of our previous new fledglings. Her next stop was one of the pilings.

Does anyone know I’m here? Can anyone hear me? I’m hungry!

It didn’t take C.J. too long to master the one-legged stance. Her bling is tucked away for now while she is looking at something behind her

C.J. is ready for take-off with beautiful flying wings and her bling showing

Here is your first peek at C.J. in flight. She looks like a pro in just a few hours

C.J. is in focus, but Audrey, near the NEMA box, is not. The fish is not in focus either, but it doesn’t really care

This is what C.J. was looking at and squawking about while on the boat lift. Audrey is near the NEMA box with a substantial fish

Yes, I did, can you see it? Poop shot! COM thinks I am disgusting. I was delighted with my action photo. Such range, Audrey!

C.J.’s first day of flight was glorious. She didn’t stay as long in one place as some of our other fledgings have. After taking their first flights, some of our other youngsters have stayed at their first landing sites for hours. But not our C.J.!

While Audrey was eating and pooping, C.J. was delightful to watch as she flew around the neighborhood. Visible bling in this photo!

And back to Old Faithful, the trusty boat lift

Does this look like half an osprey to you? Kind of creepy, don’t you think?

Oh, no, what have I done? C.J. looks terrified

C.J. on the left, Roger on the right and Audrey in the middle, still munching on her fish as her baby roams the neighborhood. Wonder if she has given C.J. a curfew?

Another view of the same tranquil scene. Still looking kind of grey on the horizon

Time for a nature break from ospreys. My butterfly bush was magnificent this year. I couldn’t resist a few close-ups of visitors to my volunteer gone wild (the volunteer butterfly bush, that is).

Thanks for letting me take an osprey break, now back to what you all really want to see. Poor Tom hasn’t gotten very much press so far this blog, so here is a shout out to our fishing fool. Tom hasn’t spent as much time in the top of Joe’s big tree this season, but I did catch him surveying his kingdom from way up high in Joe’s big tree a couple of days before the big fledge.

I saw this osprey way up high, and decided to take a closer look

Lo and behold, it was Calico Tom the Fishing Fool. Hi, Tom!

Okay, back to fledge day and the escapades of C.J. in her new found flight.

After hanging on the boat lift for awhile with no fish delivery, C.J. decides to go back to the piling and make her hungry presence known to Audrey, who was still munching on her fish from near the NEMA box. Can’t you just hear C.J.?

C.J. is certainly her mother’s daughter in the squawking department

After being ignored, by her mother no less, C.J. takes her ball and goes home

Arriving back to the nest as the skies begin to clear.

As the days went on, it was truly heartwarming to watch C.J. getting used to her new flying skills. Over the years, I have always found great pleasure in watching our fledglings soar and dive and revel in their ability to finally experience the joys of flight.

Do you remember when Audrey Three was in our midst? Much to Tom’s chagrin, she took over his favorite perch on top of the camera pole. Well, shades of Audrey Three have returned. The young whippersnapper decided she wanted to hog the camera perch. Can a male osprey be henpecked? Inquiring minds want to know.

Audrey spreading her wings in the nest while the whippersnapper takes over the camera perch. Tom was off sulking somewhere

Be careful up there, says Audrey to C.J., who is looking a little precarious and off balance

After getting yelled at by mom, C.J. holds on for dear life before she gets grounded

C.J. does not let any interesting perch go empty, even with intruders going by.

Excuse me, sir and madam. Did you not notice the giant purple martin on top of the purple martin house?

C.J. does not seem bothered by the water travelers

A lovely duet with mother and daughter. Mother is on the nest perch yapping, and daughter is claiming squatter’s rights on her dad’s favorite digs while joining in the cacophony.

You may have noticed a dearth of photos that include the scraggly stick tree. Since the tree’s partial demise, our ospreys haven’t spent nearly as much time in it as in the past. But there are still times when I will notice one of the three hanging out in the remains of the scraggly stick tree.

A wet Audrey drying off in the scraggly stick tree

A giant hint! And if you were here, you would probably hear her before you could see her, which is exactly how I found her in the tree!

Audrey is still looking. Maybe she hears C.J. yakking for some food?

I slowly approached Audrey to take a close-up

After I took the above photo, this is the next thing I saw:

Mrs. COM manages to chase off Audrey yet again. She is really good at that

I wasn’t sure how much longer Audrey would grace us with her presence. I know we all had questions as to how long she would stay. In a normal year, which this hasn’t been due to Audrey’s late arrival and subsequent delayed egg laying and hatching, Audrey would leave sometime in mid August. As the end of August arrived, Audrey was still here.

Audrey and a gull, who was pretending it wasn’t interested in what was going on at the next piling

A really good view of Audrey’s eye markings. The fish has no eyes left to have markings, so we will just have to imagine how his eye markings appeared during better days

The gull tips its hand, and shows its interest in Audrey and the fish

Not one step closer, Mrs. COM, and I really mean it

Meanwhile, back at the nest, C.J. is patiently waiting for some of that fish.

C.J. is being a good girl and waiting patiently for lunch

Patience hell, I am going to get me some fish

Does this help? Looks like dad is also a meal possibility. Check out Tom on the picnic table while C.J. waits on the right side chair

Meanwhile, Audrey is still munching on eyeless Moby Dick and the gull is still hoping Audrey will somehow drop the fish or get full and leave it for her new best friend.

No doubt why they are called ring-billed gulls. Audrey is starting to get annoyed

Well, the hour is getting late and it’s time to wrap up for now. In my next blog, I will start with September 3, 2021, which was the last day I was able to photograph Audrey before she left for her winter digs down south of the border. I am sure she is down there by now enjoying her well-deserved winter break. Tom is still around, and I have lots of fun photos of him to share with you to take the sting out of Audrey’s departure. C.J. is a real character, and we enjoy watching her antics (albeit with ear plugs). She has definitely inherited her mother’s strong, loud set of lungs. C.J. has a very distinct call, which is different from her parents. Many of the other ospreys in the area have left for the season, although there are a few still with us. The bald eagles are more noticeable now, both by their presence and their distinct calls and crys. Between the ospreys leaving and the eagles becoming more prevalent, we know our osprey season is coming to a close, but not finished yet!

I will leave you with a couple of magnificent sunrise photos from the secret location.

Looking to the east on a late summer morning at sunrise

A quiet scene at sunrise at the secret location

Until next time, we remain-

Crazy Osprey Man, Mrs. Crazy Osprey Man and Osprey Girl

CJ All The Way-Part One

Posted on August 23, 2021 by ospreycam

Good morning from the hot and humid Eastern Shore of Maryland. The summer has been flying by so quickly. Between work and life, I have managed to let way too much time slip by without regaling you with tales from the secret location. When I sat down to finally start going through some photos and preparing for my next blog, I realized I was going to have to compose a two-parter due to the number of photos I wanted to post. The subject of this blog and the next one will be our darling CJ. My plan is to get this blog published today, followed closely by Part Two over the coming weekend. So let’s get down to business!

Since my last blog, the Chesapeake Conservancy’s naming contest held our interest for a couple of weeks. Although there were some interesting and fun names nominated, the crowd favorite came out on top. A fitting name was certainly chosen, and we all welcomed CJ to the fold. CJ is certainly her mother’s daughter, and inherited Audrey’s dominant squawking gene and then some. I know the camera sound has been a problem this season, but rest assured sound has not been a problem when one lives a couple hundred feet from the nest.

Here are mother and daughter hanging out in the nest. Note the lovely tree branch in a scrumptious shade of burnt sienna, along with a long-buried marked stick.

Audrey and CJ gazing wistfully at the horizon. See the burnt sienna tree branch and the long-buried marked stick?

Those of you who have been following my blogs know that I am delighted with our new purple martin house. We have only had it a couple of years after not having any success with our old house. Check out our lovely purple martins. We had a full house this season, and are thinking about installing a second one.

A plethora of purple martins. After ospreys, these are my favorite birds.

Roger seems to have successfully performed his duties this season as Protector and Defender of the nest. Although the bird predators were kept at bay due to better spring weather and our spiffy friend, the gulls were not impressed with Roger’s skills.

Tom had just landed with his catch when a hungry gull arrived and sat on Roger’s head.

Oh, the indignity of it all. Tom stands up for Roger, and tells the gull exactly what he thinks

Hey, where are you going with that, thinks the gull with some dismay

Tom decides not to reward the gull’s bad behavior, and takes off with his catch, one foot on the fish and one tucked up under him

One of the big events since the last blog was the banding of CJ by our dear friend and raptor biologist extraordinaire, Craig Koppie. We first met Craig in 2015, the summer of our great foster experience with Maine, Montana and E.T., which is memorialized in my blogs from that summer. You can also read about out foster summer in Craig’s book “Inside An Osprey’s Nest”, which is available for purchase from the Chesapeake Conservancy and is a fabulous osprey treatise. Craig continues to be one of our favorite people, and we truly enjoy his friendship and expertise.

Craig was able to come to the secret location to band CJ on August 5, which was before she fledged. Craig likes to band ospreys at around age 6-7 weeks, which was right on target for our CJ. I have made it a tradition to treat all of the experts who help with our ospreys to homemade muffins. Craig was most fortunate to be with us when blueberries were in season.

Banding Day blueberry muffins. Yummy in the tummy!

Meanwhile, back on the dock, Craig and COM were getting ready to begin the day’s agenda. The lighting was not ideal for photos from some of the angles, but I did the best I could.

Audrey is used to me taking photos from the dock, so wasn’t too perturbed just yet. That would soon change.

Heading into the drink with one glove. Craig doesn’t need any stinkin’ waders, a manly man

Out goes the manly ladder to go with the manly men with no waders

Now Audrey realizes this is no ordinary photo-taking session, and sounds the alarm. CJ assumes the pancake position, and can hardly be seen

Sorry CJ, I love ya but you are on your own. Audrey prepares to get out of dodge. You can barely see CJ pancaked down in the left of the nest just over the burnt sienna decoration

Audrey gives CJ one last look, and flies off to safety. CJ remains out of sight (she hopes)

Audrey is agitated, but doesn’t go far from her nest and chick

Audrey is keeping an eye on the situation while Craig and COM set up the super duper step ladder

CJ is hoping to scare Craig off with her big, bad wings. Nice try, CJ, but this isn’t Craig’s first rodeo.

The grab. Oh darn, this isn’t going to be good, thinks CJ

It may look like Craig has a smile on his face, but it is a grimace as he is getting bitten by a none too happy CJ

Don’t look now, COM and Craig, but you are being followed

I think Craig has handled a bird or two in his career, what do you think? Take note of the glove, no longer on Craig’s hand

You really did it this time, Koppie. I am going to rip your f*!#&%g face off, thinks CJ

Craig gives CJ the glove to bite instead of his flesh. Check out CJ’s nictitating membrane in her eye.

Craig sure knows how to handle a frightened young osprey. He is so good with them

I have so many incredible close-ups that I just couldn’t choose. If any of the following photos aren’t captioned, I didn’t think they needed one.

The next two photos are very similar, but in one you can see CJ’s nictitating membrane, and in the other you can see her eye color. See if you can tell which is which.

Craig’s bloody hand. It got worse later, but I had a camera malfunction

Check out the coloring on the back of CJ’s head. I think burnt sienna is the color of the day (thank you, Crayola)

The next photo is one of my absolute favorite photos out of all the osprey photos I have taken in the last nine years. I chuckle each and every time I look at it.

CJ and Craig sticking their tongues out at each other. Silly kids!

It looks like Craig is trying to hypnotize CJ in the following photo.

You are getting sleepy. Your eyelids are getting heavy.

Getting the band ready. I didn’t notice it was upside down until I looked at the photos. Oh well

Band going on. Craig gave CJ a glove to bite instead of him

Okay, before I continue with the rest of the banding photos, I have a sad story to tell. When I downloaded my photos from banding day, it looked like I was missing some. I went back and looked at the photo numbers, and I was missing photo numbers 9293 through 9358. Those photos are just plain gone. I have no idea where they went, or what happened, but was so dismayed. The missing photos included Craig’s really bloody hand after CJ took a couple more bites out of him, COM assisting Craig in attaching the yellow tape to CJ’s new bling and some really cute photos of COM with Craig holding CJ and Roger in the middle. I am so sad those were the photos that vanished into thin air. I do have one photo of Craig showing COM how big to cut the piece of tape.

All right, people, get your minds out of the gutter. This is how big Craig wants COM to cut the piece of tape, nothing more.

To add insult to injury, as I continued to take photos of Craig and COM returning CJ and her new bling back to the nest, I ran out of space on my camera to take any more photos. So here are some of the remaining few I managed to take before the card filled up.

Audrey is back in the nest, but on high alert

As Craig and COM approach, Audrey decides the coast is not clear after all

CJ is asking Craig what the heck just happened

COM at the ready. He is a very good helper, but can’t help but hope the jellyfish don’t get up his pants. Where are those waders when you need them? Had to be manly, didn’t you?

Don’t look now, but Audrey is ready to kick some ass

Craig and COM are keeping a watchful eye on the agitated mama. Good plan

Taking the ladder down under Audrey’s watchful eyes

Trudging back to the dock as Mrs. COM’s camera runs out of space. That’s all, folks!

While Craig was up in the nest, he removed the unhatched egg with great care. He said if the egg blew up, it would be quite malodorous so he wanted to get it out of the nest. The egg is now in his freezer, but he didn’t say if it was his home freezer or his work freezer and I didn’t ask. His wife is a very nice woman, so I hope it is in the work freezer.

Craig is holding the unhatched Egg #1 very gingerly

Here is one of the photos that Craig took of CJ from the ladder.

I just love this photo of CJ and her new bling. Thanks for letting me use it in my blog, Craig!

Of course, one of the big questions was the gender of CJ. Based on her leg size and the way the band fit, Craig felt that CJ was female.

Here are a few more answers to a few more questions we asked Craig. He is not sure when Audrey might leave since she was a month late in arriving, but was leaning toward her leaving at her normal time, which would be around now. I asked him about the types of bands that are used (metal vs. color) and here was his answer: “The Bird Banding Lab authorizes the use of auxiliary bands (anodized color bands) only for specific research projects. Currently, I band osprey incidental to other raptor conservation efforts such as your birds. The Poplar Island restoration project would like to begin using auxiliary color bands for osprey. We are entertaining this for next year. I consider your pair to be associated with the greater (local) group, so I could use color bands in the future. I will let you know. The colored tape is a benefit to you when observing post fledging behavior of your bird. There will be other fledglings in the area soon including those from Poplar Island, potentially. The tape is temporary. Reading of the band numbers can only be done when in the hand so it doesn’t matter if the digits are obscured.”

Here is the last photo of this blog, which was taken at our July Full Moon Dock Party.

So that’s it for now. I have another fun blog planned for you in the very near future, CJ All The Way Part Two, so stay tuned!

Until next time, we remain-

Crazy Osprey Man, Mrs. Crazy Osprey Man and Osprey Girl

Me, Myself and I

Posted on July 13, 2021 by ospreycam

Good morning from the hot, sultry Eastern Shore of Maryland! As I sit in my office, I can look outside and see Audrey in the nest while Tom hangs out at his favorite location, COM’s perch on top of the camera pole. Our little chick is not visible from my seat in front of the computer, but I know he/she is safe and sound in the nest, awaiting the next fish delivery from Calico Tom the Fishing Fool. Such a bucolic scene for our ospreys, after living through crazy town earlier this season and the unhappy events of the 2020 season. We are really enjoying the status quo, which helps keep my blood pressure in the normal range. I will take boring any day over what life has dealt us the past sixteen months!

When last I wrote in June, there were still two eggs being incubated and we were all anxiously waiting for the big day. I posted a little tutorial on how to tell Tom and Audrey apart, and did not give credit to the creator of one of the photos which adeptly pointed out some of their differences. So a big thank you to our Explore friend LynTuck for the use of her osprey differentiation aid.

As a review, after arriving back at the secret location a month late, Audrey 2 reclaimed her nest from Audrey 3. Osprey life proceeded like crazy town had never occurred, and three beautiful eggs were laid on May 14, 17 and 20. On May 30, the third egg was cracked and was no longer viable. Using my astute higher math skills, the estimated date range for our first egg to hatch was June 22-24 (39-41 days after laying, typical for our nest). The hatch window for the second egg was June 25-27. When June 24 came and went with no visible pip, my heart sank.

However, there was great joy and relief during the wee small hours of June 25, when egg #2 hatched right on time and presented us with our first chick in two years! I know we would all loved to have two little ones, but we are thrilled with our one spoiled rotten only child, hence the name of this blog, Me, Myself and I. The non-viable first egg is still around, but will not hatch. It will eventually break, and that event has the potential of being rather odiferous. I hope the wind isn’t blowing from the south when that happens, because I sure don’t want to be downwind of that little blast.

As soon as our two resident ospreys became three, COM went to the garage and dusted off our faithful Roger. For those of you who haven’t met Roger, he is our Defender and Protector of the nest from dastardly predators. Roger made his appearance at the end of our dock five years ago at the suggestion of our dear friend and raptor biologist, Craig Koppie, after a nighttime attack by a Great Horned Owl. The owl snatched one of our newly hatched chicks and damaged the remaining unhatched egg, leaving us with another only child. Roger has been residing inside the garage for two years, and was certainly ready to see the light of day. Our fearless defender is starting to look a little worse for wear, but he is still functional, albeit in need of a new suit of clothes. COM will have an additional project to revitalize Roger, although fashion is not his forte (or mine for that matter). For Roger’s whole story, go back and read my blog “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood”, published June 30, 2016. It’s a good one if I don’t say so myself!

COM and Roger, newly released from his digs in the garage. What a dynamic duo!

Roger doing a little line dance with the crab pots as his partners. Since this photo was taken, he has now lost his crab pot partners to the drink, where they are hopefully catching crabs.

Roger looks like he has to use the men’s room with those legs tightly crossed. Only kidding, just the wind. This is a good view of Roger and the nest complex.

A little blurry due to the wind and low light for my camera, but here is ferocious Roger lit up at night. Take that, you Great Horned Owls!!

So now that we have a family of three, where do our adult ospreys hang out? Audrey spends the majority of her time in the nest. She will leave to take a spin around the neighborhood to stretch her wings, but does not spend much of her time outside of the nest. I have seen her once in what is left of the scraggly stick tree. The days of Tom taking over incubation duties, which he greatly relished, are done for now. Tom spends quite of bit of time on top of the camera pole on the little perch that COM installed to make it easier for ospreys to hold on. You may recall that Audrey 3 loved that little perch, much to Tom’s chagrin. He has reclaimed his roost, and loves to survey his kingdom from that altitude. He also likes to sit on the boat lift, with or without a fish. Once in a while, we will see him in the scraggly stick tree. In the past, we would frequently see Tom in Joe’s big tree along the riprap, two houses to the north of us. For some reason, he does not spend much time there this season. There are many other ospreys in the area, and when we see an osprey in that tree, it is not usually Tom. He has kept his daytime hangouts a secret from us, although I keep looking for him when he is not in the immediate area. When Audrey 3 would take over the top of the camera pole, Tom would frequently spend time on the swim ladder on our neighbor’s dock two houses to the south, but I have not seen him there in quite a long time.

Audrey, complete with wonky feather, in the scraggly stick tree.

And off she goes! Audrey, you hurt Mrs. COM’s feelings

Tom on the perch either yakking or choking on something while Audrey feeds her chick

Audrey takes a break from feeding her chick when she spots Mrs. COM. Check out the marked sticks and the collapsing nest.

I don’t play favorites when it comes to chasing off our osprey. Tom decided I was close enough, and got out of dodge.

Let’s take a quick break from all things osprey. Here is some of the flora and fauna we are seeing around the secret location.

Horseshoe crabs mating and laying eggs during the June full moon high tides. This is on a neighbor’s beach, which we don’t have at our house.

Mating horseshoe crabs all over the beach. It is wild to see them all.

We tried for years to attract purple martins to our yard. No luck in our endeavors until our friend Phil from the Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage told us about installing a purple martin house over the water, which did the trick. I absolutely love hearing them sing and watching them flit around the yard. They also eat vast quantities of mosquitos, which is a good thing so close to the water.

Along with the occasional groundhog and muskrat, we will often see a fox running along the top of the riprap or across the lawn. Here are some photos in the yard of a skinny young fox with a really big tail. In the third photo, my camera focused on the grass and not the fox. This was unfortunate, because it would have been a really cool photo of the fox. He/she had just caught and was flipping around a black snake, trying to eat it. I wouldn’t normally post such a blurry photo, but you can still get the idea.

The young fox notices Mrs. COM, who manages to scare away birds and mammals.

I saw those ospreys flying away from that woman with the camera, and my mama didn’t raise no fool. See ya!

The darn camera focused on the grass instead of the stars of the photo, and it happened too fast to get it right. But you get the idea. This is the fox with a black snake in its mouth.

Many years ago, a passing critter, genus unknown, must have deposited a butterfly bush seed along our riprap. Here is the result of that fortunate deposit.

Check out my incredible volunteer butterfly bush, complete with osprey nest in the background

We don’t have too many resident Canada geese, but now we have a few more.

What kind of water animal is this?

A pile driver leaving for the day after working on a new dock

On Sunday, I was in the kitchen baking my famous Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake for a neighborhood party when COM called my attention to Tom, who was struggling to haul a fish out of the water. In the past, we have noticed that when Tom was having trouble with his catch, he had snagged a fish that was too large to handle gracefully. Planning ahead, I turned off my new Kitchen Aid mixer (a Mother’s Day gift from Osprey Girl, what a good kid), grabbed my trusty Nikon and headed outside just in case of an impending photo op. Sure enough, Tom finally managed to take flight with his prize, and it was a beast! My pre-planning resulted in a plethora of photos of Tom and his tasty meal-to-be.

Once again, I had a whole boatload of trouble trying to cull out photos of Tom and his incredible catch, so you will reap the benefit of my indecision with a few extra photos of a truly remarkable meal for our osprey family.

A very wet Tom lands on my neighbor’s picnic table with a still flopping fish.

Tom was having trouble controlling the hapless fish, who was flapping violently

Not a step closer, Mrs. COM, unless you want some of me too, like the fish

Waiting patiently for the struggle to subside

I decided to try another angle, and went back to our dock to take some photos from there.

Before digging in, Tom is trying to wait the fish out. The fish was still flapping

The fish, although still firmly in Tom’s grasp, is making a valiant effort to escape

Counterbalancing the flapping fish with flapping wings and a strong beak

Getting ready to take a big bite, which was rather upsetting as the fish was still very much alive

And the feasting continued

Can you say The Exorcist? Look closely at the angle of Tom’s head and neck.

While Tom was feasting on the poor unfortunate fish, Audrey was in the nest with the chick, waiting for her sloppy seconds. Although the little guy/gal is hard to see, look carefully and you will be able to pick out the youngster. As fast as the little one is growing, it won’t be long until he/she is readily visible from multiple angles.

I promise you, Audrey is not alone. Look right in the middle of the nest just above the pole

After all of those graphic photos of nature at work, let’s close with a more pleasant topic. I will be reaching out to Craig about banding our chick, and should know something soon. We haven’t had our chicks banded since 2018, so hopefully we will have better luck this year, which we all deserve.

The Crazy Osprey Family hopes all of our American friends had a wonderful, safe, happy and healthy 4th of July. COM and I spent some time on the water with dear friends. Here are a couple of photos while waiting for the sun to go down and the fireworks to start.

Waiting for the sun to set in Swan Creek, just outside of Rock Hall, Maryland

An idyllic sunset with good friends. Doesn’t get much better than that (unless Osprey Girl had been with us, but she had to work)

I will leave you with one last photo, taken in June during our first Full Moon Dock Party since 2019 due to the pandemic. As usual, I haven’t mastered how to get the moon and water in focus at the same time, so it’s not a very good photo, but it’s the best I have for now.

Full Strawberry Moon rising over the water at the secret location. The howling was over by the time this photo was taken!

Well, WordPress is giving me fits tonight, so I apologize for the wacky formatting. There are photos the wrong size, captions in the wrong place and spacing askew. I know you will all forgive me, I really need to figure out the new and improved (yeah, right) system.

Don’t forget to vote in Chesapeake Conservancy’s naming contest for Me, Myself and I, Tom and Audrey’s solo chick for this season. Details may be found at the Explore site as well as the Chesapeake Conservancy’s Facebook page and website.

Until next time, we remain,

Crazy Osprey Man, Mrs. Crazy Osprey Man and Osprey Girl

Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz. Oh, What A Relief It Is!

Posted on June 17, 2021 by ospreycam

Good morning from the lovely Eastern Shore of Maryland! The situation here at the secret location is certainly different than it was when I posted my last blog. When last we met, the battle of the Audreys had just concluded, Tom and Audrey (2) were getting reacquainted after their winter hiatus and we were waiting anxiously for the arrival of lovely osprey eggs. Although a month late, osprey life picked up right where it should be.

With Crazy Town on the back burner for now, it was time for life around the neighborhood to get back to normal. Tom and Audrey continued to add to their comfy cozy nest, and they got down to business making baby ospreys. Tom regained his favorite perch on top of the camera pole, and didn’t have to resort to his second and third choices.

Tom was hanging out on the boat lift on a bucolic afternoon. After being so rudely interrupted by a crazy lady hugging a camera, he headed back to his favorite perch on top of the camera pole. A downstairs tenant is perched on a protruding stick. Do you see it?

Tom arrives at his happy place, with Audrey keeping careful watch on you-know-who

Tom is surveying his kingdom while Audrey relaxes on a lovely spring morning

Tom isn’t the only one who enjoys hanging out on the crosspiece.

There is always chatter in the Explore comments between those who have figured out the Tom vs. Audrey code and the camera watchers who still haven’t broken it. Here is a quick tutorial to help you make your decision.

This is Tom, looking at the left side of his head. Notice there are no breaks in the black under his eye.

The view of the right side of Tom’s head. Again, there are no breaks in the black under his eye.

Now on to Audrey.

This is Audrey’s head from the right side. In the above photo, it is very obvious that Audrey has a break of white under her eye. Her iris is also heavily speckled.

The above photo shows Audrey’s head from the left view. The white break is visible, unlike the area under Tom’s eyes that are black and have no break of white.

Tom on the bottom of the photo and Audrey on the top

I took the above photo from the Explore comments. If the rightful author of the photo comes forward, I will definitely give you credit in the next blog! The differences between Tom and Audrey are pointed out

The features I use to tell Tom and Audrey apart are the differences in the amount of black/white under their eyes, and the buff patch on the back of Tom’s head. I will point out visible differences in any photos I post where the differences are apparent. This particular Tom and Audrey pair can be difficult to differentiate at times. Our first Tom and Audrey pair looked so different that just a cursory glance was all that was needed to make the ID. Our first Tom had such a dark face he stood out immediately. Audrey 1 had almost no black on her face, and the difference between them was marked. No such luck with these two, but we are all up to the Tom v. Audrey challenge.

May 14, 2021 was a happy day indeed at the secret location. Audrey presented us with her first egg, with her second egg following right on schedule three days later on May 17. And the biggest event of all was the appearance of the third egg, again three days later, on May 20. When I say appearance, I mean appearance. For those of you who witnessed the event as it happened, or were able to catch a glimpse on the reruns, I think you will agree with the title I have selected for the blog. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is (with apologizes to the old time 1976 Alka-Seltzer commercial)!! A huge sigh of relief for everyone, with the welcome sight of three beautiful eggs, and especially the plop, plop of the third one. Please enjoy this short clip from the CBS Sunday Morning show (with a short ad at the beginning, just ignore it), featuring the origin of our blog title for today. https://youtu.be/icwW6H-PJ-0

Sadly, one of the eggs became cracked and is no longer with us. It is believed to be the third egg that had been laid, which leaves us with eggs #1 and #2. The very first egg laid in the nest, which was by Audrey 3 on the very day that Audrey 2 returned, became buried shortly after it was laid, and would no longer be viable. There have been no confirmed sightings of Audrey 3 since the day she was politely asked to leave by Audrey 2 (sarcasm). We can only hope she has found a new mate, and is enjoying her life on the Chesapeake Bay.

In our nest, the typical time from an egg being laid to hatch is 39-41 days. If you do the math, we can expect the first egg to hatch sometime in the middle of next week, in the June 22-24 range. The eggs will hatch in the order they were laid, and with the same interval. So pip watch begins very soon. I would expect our viewer numbers will rise significantly in the near future. Hopefully the weather will hold out, and we won’t experience the marauding, nefarious, dastardly crows of last spring. Can you tell I don’t like the crows? The belated return of Audrey 2 may end up being a blessing in disguise, as the extra thirty days has certainly helped the conditions at the nest.

Our ospreys have been hanging out in their usual locations, with the exception of one. I have not seen Tom in Joe’s Big Tree two houses to the north of us. There is another osprey who hangs out there, but I do not think it is Tom. I have seen both Tom and Audrey on the boat lift and in the scraggly stick tree. Audrey continues to enjoy chowing down on fish from the top of the NEMA box, which is no longer the pristine piece of equipment it was when newly installed this past March. Both Tom and Audrey take turns in the nest incubating the eggs. Tom enjoys the perch on top of the camera pole, and the crosspiece that stabilizes the two poles.

Here is the current condition of the scraggly stick tree. Although quite diminished in size and leaning precariously over the water, it has leafed out quite nicely.

Audrey on the NEMA box with her gift from Tom

A piece of something is stuck in Audrey’s throat. I hate when that happens, she thinks

The NEMA box has officially been christened. What a mess! Are you planning to clean that up, Audrey?

Audrey in the scraggly stick tree with her half of a fish

Audrey in the scraggly stick tree from a different angle

Audrey tearing off a bite of fish. It sure tastes better when someone else catches it!

Tom is a happy camper incubating the eggs while Audrey snacks. You can see two marked sticks buried in the nest.

Tom is loving his incubation time. You can see how low down in the nest he is.

I managed to unintentionally chase Audrey off of the NEMA box.

Audrey has relocated to the dock next door to the south with her prize

Now that’s what I’m talking about! Yummy

Almost got that poop shot, a split second too late. Better luck next time, Mrs. COM

I chased Audrey off yet again. Sorry about that!

Audrey trying to escape the camera of Mrs. COM, which cannot be readily accomplished without flying out of range

Audrey in downstroke, still clutching her unfinished morsel. Damn you, Mrs. COM

Tom has reclaimed his rightful place on the camera pole perch.

Tom savoring his favorite place while Audrey performs her incubating duties

Although the lighting is not optimal, twilight has fallen with Tom on the crosspiece and Audrey in the nest.

A bucolic scene as the sun is setting and dusk falls upon our favorite osprey pair

Can you make out Audrey’s punk “hair”do?

Memorial Day weekend brought some nasty, cold, wet weather. We watched the nest carefully to ascertain if Audrey was receiving enough to eat so she wouldn’t leave the nest unattended, as visions of last spring’s melancholy events were still fresh in our heads. The crummy holiday weather only lasted two days, and we were able to fly the ginormous holiday flag before the weekend ended.