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| Name | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Marie | 06/14/05 09:21 pm | I headed out once again after work to soak up the sun and seek out the osprey. I encountered a very blustery day in Victoria with big white fluffy clouds motoring along like giant cauliflowers across the big blue yonder. My allergies are troublesome in this wind, but to stay inside would not be my choice. At the first location I found both adults in the nest. A fish delivery had occured before I had arrived. The female was feeding something in the nest bowl.The male finally flew off to the fir trees and tried some ''shut-eye' for a while. He had his head tucked into his wing while he clung to the snag and swayed in the wind. He didn't stay long and flew off. I then packed up and jumped into the car. A shrill call from the female startled me. I hopped out of the car and watched another male osprey attempt to land in the nest. I think this bird might be last years male, or one of the young from two years ago. It was a male with a beautiful white chest. One of the neighbourghs and I concurred that this pair breeding in this nest were not last years osprey. Several times the intruding male circled and threatened to land. Eventually the female rose up off the nest toward the unwanted osprey. She manage to convince this male to get going. He flapped off lazily as if to say."I'LL BE BACK". He made a bee-line for the golf course ponds. From this encounter I headed to # 2 nest out on a pile driver in the small harbour. This one is not easy to access. Only a female sat in the top. Perhaps she is still on eggs. I saw no activity on the two occasions this afternoon when I drove by. Out at the third nest I found the female still on eggs. She was the last one to lay this year. Her eggs haves at least another week to go before hatching. Her mate was no where to be seen. It was extremely blustery across the ball park. I stood around hoping for ACTION !.. Well I got it. A pair of Ravens flew into the trees and I heard the call of an osprey. Presumably, this was the male from this nest site.The female wasn't disturbed. The male hidden in the trees had been discovered by the Ravens. A fight was on...but with the blustery wind and those huge wings the osprey was at a disadvantage. The ravens must have called for back-up for suddenly 4 ravens were flying around the osprey. They dipped and dove all over the ball park. Eventually the osprey and its followers crested the tops of the trees and disappeard over to the far side. The lagoon is on the otherside. Hopefully the osprey was able to dump the ravens and concentrate on some serious fishing. My concern is now for the young when they arrive for this nest was predated last year. This roving band of ravens might pose a significant threat to the adults and young. I hope my fears are unjustified. |
| cathy | 06/14/05 11:52 pm | My - what an amazing day of osprey watching. How sad that ospreys would be a target of ravens since osprey only predate on fish. Animals are so merciless. I saw a gang of stellar's jays attack a tree with songbird nests. John threw rocks at them, but it only succeeded in scaring the songbirds more. I'm glad to hear news of the ospreys in Victoria. (and am looking forward to some great photos). |
| Marie | 06/15/05 02:24 am | Cathy, I too am surprised that the ravens were there. I had never noticed them before. In the wind we have had today I am not sure I will have any good PICS......my digital is too slow for this kind of action and operating the Canon EOS was difficult. The camera is fast but I couldn't move fast enough to catch the action...LOL. We shall see. |
| Anne | 06/15/05 01:28 pm | Ravens are thugs and will take anything. I once saw one swallowing a juvenile lapwing (about the size of your black-bellied plover). It was horrible. I should imagine a female osprey could fight off a raven, but not a gang of them. |
| Celeste | 06/15/05 05:31 pm | After reading about the ravens and the osprey I thought I would look up ravens on the interenet.....PBS must have done a documentary on Ravens, however, their website has some interesting info about this very smart bird.... http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/ravens/ravens.html Years ago, when I was returning from Florida by car, we stopped at a lake for a rest in the Carolinas, and there was a woman who had a Raven as a pet. She had him on a "leash"! Anyways, she claimed that the raven could quote bible verses! |
| Marie | 06/16/05 01:59 am | Very interesting Celeste...........I wonder if a Raven can really quote bible verses. Birds never cease to amaze me. |
| cathy | 06/16/05 10:54 pm | Especially if the bird actually learned from reading the Bible. |