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| Name | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Mare | 05/28/06 09:31 am | Good morning, everyone, I missed most of this morning feeding, and I'm wondering if Betty fed Chick #2? I'm also wondering, is the chick in the last egg going to stand much of a chance of making it, if it doesn't hatch today? And in what order do you now think this egg was laid? |
| AnneUK | 05/28/06 11:15 am | I'm watching a feed now and #2 is being fed. I missed most of it, but I'm guessing #1 had a good old feed first. I'm seeing quite a difference between the two in terms of strength and ability to get close enough to Betty to be fed with ease. I too am wondering how #3 will fare. Hopefully there will be lots of fish to share around and Betty will be diligent, but we'll have to wait and see I guess. At this moment #1 has muscled back in and is getting even more fish while #2 flops about in the background. |
| Mickey | 05/28/06 11:49 am | Hi.....The last egg is due to hatch today or Monday. IMO, I dont give #3 much of a chance. Look at the size,strength difference between #1 and #2. Then imagine if you will, the new hatchling in the mix. For him to fledge he will need to be patient,cunning,strong and the nest will need alot of fish brought to it. The odds are against him the second he hatches. But it can be done. The cosmic forces must all be aligned properly :) Just so you all know it wont be easy to watch. The first year I watched I went off my mental reservation threatening to go throw fish up into the nest and even save the chick that we watched die. So when you think the same thoughts,just know you arent alone. A few of the regulars from back then like myself just cant watch when the aggression gets bad.So we might read the obs and msg board but just leave the cam off till the aggression is over. |
| Mare | 05/28/06 11:49 am | Thanks Anne for your response. Chick #1 seemed to be stronger 2 days ago than #2 is right now. #1 was able to maneuver over to his mother to get fed and #1 doesn't seem to be able to do that very well. He/she usually seems to be facing the wrong way. I notice that Betty will feed the older chick first and then make an attempt to reach the younger chick from where she is standing, but if she can't reach the chick, sometimes she just gives up and continues to feed #1. But then sometimes she will walk/waddle over to the younger one to feed it. It just makes me wonder about what's going to happen when the 3rd one hatches. |
| Mare | 05/28/06 11:58 am | Thanks Mickey, I didn't see your post till after I sent mine. I appreciate the heads up. I don't know if I will be able to watch if # 3 is going to have a terrible time of it. I understand that it's nature's way, survival of the fittest, but I may end up just reading the obs for a while like some of you if it gets rough after #3 hatches. As it is now, I am trying not to worry about #2. He/she does seem like a tough little one with a strong will to survive. |
| Tiger | 05/28/06 12:11 pm | I think it does depend on the weather, the supply of fish and Betty. Tomorrow is six days since chick #1 was born. Now the last chick at Conneticut last year was hatched six days after the first one and fledged ok. Also the fourth chick at Pebbles last year was born EIGHT days after the first and still flew the nest. Indeed at the banding it was noted that while it showed signs of pecking it was not malnourished. Last year Betty did not try very hard to feed the last chick and not surprisingly it died. |
| Celeste | 05/28/06 02:05 pm | As Tiger has indicated....anything is possible. However, chicks do die, not necessarily by starvation, but due to competion for what food is available. As Mickey has said also, it can be very hard to watch, and aggression seems to change from one year to the next with not necessarily a definite reason. The dominant oldest chick may attack, push a chick out of the nest, in order to have all the food for itself, and in many nests this has happened when there was plenty of fish. In past nests we have seen aggression that it is so very hard to watch, and in fact the first year, we thought for sure Chick 1 would push Chick 2 out of the nest. Osprey parents will never interfere. Less chicks mean less foraging for them, and the bottom line is survival of the fittest. Better to have even one strong chick who can survive migration. Another thing to keep in mind, survival of fledged ospreys to breeding age is usually less than 50%. It has been shown that the best osprey parents usually produce the most long-term survivors. 85% of adult ospreys survive to the next year, and most ospreys live to between 10 and 13 yrs of age in the wild. Older ospreys produce the most young successfully, but unfortunately it causes a high mortality in the older osprey. According to Poole, 30% of osprey young will be alive 1 yr after fledging, 17% after 8 yrs, and only 6-8 adults will be alive at 12 yrs. There have been documented cases, (in Poole's observations), of 3 ospreys over 24yrs old who returned to their natal breeding area and bred chicks! That is a true miracle when you consider what can happen during migration. There are quite a few observers after the first year of this site, who just do not watch the cam during the early weeks of chicks. |
| Mare | 05/28/06 03:21 pm | Celeste, that's amazing that there were such old ospreys that were able to breed and raise chicks. I guess it's kind of like the occasional 60+ years woman getting pregnant. I think that second chick is a tough little one, I also saw him pecking at #1 earlier and was surprised. Tiger, that's wonderful that a chick born 8 days after the first one, survived. I wonder how often that has happened. |
| Tiger | 05/28/06 04:01 pm | Oh Celeste I forgot to add that one factor was the attitude of the other chick. There was one particularly tense moment (video still available) when Brooke tried to shove Haven out of the nest. Mare if you want to read about Errol the chick who survive last year despite all the odds see The story of Errol |
| cathy | 05/28/06 08:55 pm | Speaking of osprey life-span, I think it is amazing that some ospreys outlived the DDT disaster for large birds. They continued to migrate, return and lay eggs even though for maybe 10 years all eggs broke, but finally with the banning of DDT, they were able to lay eggs that hatched. The ospreys and eagles outlived the DDT problem. If they had a shorter life span, they would be extinct. It shows they do not adapt to reality, but continue the same behavior even though it isn't working (laying eggs). In some cases, this lack of adaptation results in extinction, in other cases, such as raptors and other large birds, continuing instinctual behavior actually preserves them. |