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| Name | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Nancy L | 08/10/09 11:50 am | Our disabled juvie was above the nest so all I could see was one foot. Then the Mom came in with a fish of which the 2 other juvies are partaking. |
| Anne UK1 | 08/10/09 01:07 pm | I can't bear to watch that juvie. His chances of survival must be so slim, poor thing. Diving, catching fish, perching in trees - all are going to be so hard for him. |
| Nancy L | 08/10/09 06:35 pm | But maybe he will learn to compensate for his disability & somehow manage to do those things. I'm still hoping. |
| Anne UK1 | 08/10/09 07:06 pm | Maybe he will Nancy - I certainly hope so. Presumably we'll never know anyway, which is pretty much the same for all the juvies we see on webcams. Fingers crossed for this one who we can see will be at a disadvantage, and for all those who look fit and healthy but still aren't guaranteed to live long happy lives. |
| Craig | 08/11/09 02:32 am | Saw him standing straight up on his one good leg. Looked normal as a sibling and his mom were also standing on one leg at the time. |
| SamiS | 08/11/09 05:42 am | Update...Koo has fledged! http://madarlesok.lapunk.hu/ |
| Anne UK1 | 08/11/09 10:34 am | Thanks Sami! I've never seen that page before - just wish I could find a way to translate it, but the pictures tell a pretty good story anyway. I'm looking at the nest now and there's just an adult there so it looks as if Koo is a happy flier. I didn't know he/she had a name :) |
| cathleen | 08/11/09 01:34 pm | Anne, you can use Google Translate to translate the page from Hungarian to English. http://translate.google.com/translate_t# to enter the site URL. It's already updated. And I just checked to see Koo back on the nest - so he has made a successful flight, stayed long away from the nest, and returned - good news. |
| Anne UK1 | 08/11/09 03:21 pm | Hungarian? I thought it was Finnish. No wonder nothing happened when I tried translating to English! lol. Thanks Cathleen :) I think he's made more than one flight too, I've looked in a few times and sometimes he was there and sometimes not. Well done him - now he needs to learn to fish. |
| Nancy L | 08/11/09 03:30 pm | And don't forget, he DOES have a leg band - in case anyone finds him at a later date. |
| FOB Webmaster | 08/11/09 04:26 pm | A friend asked a good question -- if Koo is delayed in migrating because of its handicap, how long will dad stay and feed it. I wonder if Koo would start migration before it could fish for itself or would it continue to stay at the nest expecting food. |
| Anne UK1 | 08/11/09 05:35 pm | I've been wondering about this. More what the mum would do actually - she seems to be on the nest much more than females usually are at this stage - or is that just my imagination? I've not watched the cam a lot but every time I check in she's been there and I get the feeling she's more protective of Koo than we normally see. So I wondered, if Koo didn't fledge what would the female do. Luckily we don't need to worry about that one now, but there are still questions to be answered. Then again, as far as we know neither Nethy or Deshar had fished for themselves before they started their migration last year, so maybe the male just reaches a point where he feels his job is done and he sets off south regardless, leaving the juvies to make it (or not) on their own. I guess ospreys never do know what happens to their offspring, which is hard for us to relate to. |
| FOB Webmaster | 08/11/09 06:17 pm | I was thinking of Bluebeard -- Rob Bierregaard's male osprey who stayed at the nest late into Sept. because it had a fledgling that wasn't a good angler and kept sitting on the nest begging for food. Finally one day the young bird disappeared, so Bluebeard left. |
| Anne UK1 | 08/11/09 07:15 pm | Thanks Lisa - Bluebeard was before my time so I didn't know that story. Presumably the instinct to migrate in both adults and juvies would eventually be so strong that they'd go regardless of anything else? |
| JudyB | 08/11/09 08:29 pm | I apologize if some of this has been posted before - I'm afraid I've been busy with other nests (though I'm glad to see Liberty and Freedom doing so well - this was the first osprey nest I watched!). First - I have potentially good news - Koo (the injured osprey) was away from the nest for about three hours today, returning successfully - and he even had strength enough for some flapping once he returned. It's just my opinion - but I'm sure that means he had to perch somewhere other than the nest and be able to take off from that perch to get back - both of which are necessary to his long-term success. I know the odds aren't that great for any particular osprey chick (though osprey as a whole are doing OK) - and the odds are a lot worse for him. But I am hoping he'll somehow beat the odds. :) Next, there is a lot of information on the Estonian Looduskalender forum (link) - Renandeli is from Finland and she has been kind enough to translate some of the news stories and additional information. Interestingly (or maybe ironically), while I watch a number of forums, I had to go to an Estonian forum to read the reply of the Finnish official involved in overseeing osprey nests, which was sent to a woman in the Unites States (link). The other two chicks were also named - Yy is the oldest, and Kaa is the middle chick. I also read that the mother is Nemo and the father Kemo - though I really don't know if those are "official" names or what they are called on some forum. So that's all I know or have learned. I've also learned that this forum is one of the best resources for information on osprey. I know Koo's chances are not good - but does he have a chance? Thanks! |
| FOB Webmaster | 08/11/09 09:02 pm | Anne: I should have provided the Bluebeard link; here it is. Thanks for the details Judy. It seems like if Koo could find a way to fish, the bird might be okay. |
| Anne UK1 | 08/12/09 03:06 am | Judy & Lisa - thanks for those links. I'll study them properly later, though I had a quick look at the Estonian forum and was concerned about the ringing reports. Judy you seem to think the method was acceptable so I hope it's just people with little knowledge panicking over nothing? |
| Craig | 08/12/09 03:09 am | About an hour and a half ago it looked like Koo and mom were going to enjoy a meal. In fact mom started feeding koo. I was gone for a few seconds while saving the photo and when I returned, the fish was gone. So either it fell off the nest or perhaps a sibling stole it. My guess is it fell off the nest as it was pretty close to the edge. Koo did seem to do a good job of repositioning itself when the meal was arriving. So that's a good sign. One small thing to help it once mom is gone and it has to get the fish from dad. |
| JudyB | 08/12/09 09:44 am | I don't know how acceptable the method is - it's certainly not what I'm used to seeing in pictures or videos of banding/ringing of eagles or osprey. But I haven't run across any negative reports on the Wildlife Center of Virginia, and Ed Clark recommended the method for controlling powerful birds so they won't hurt themselves (or him) (though I can't imagine that the youngest of three osprey chicks would be that powerful or that aggressive - Ed was releasing large adult eagles when he made his remarks - but I wasn't there and haven't seen a video, only the still shot). And NatureNut on the Bird Cams around the World forum asked a local expert about the legs, and he agreed that they were generally sturdy and said he'd held many birds that way (link) and he felt it unlikely that the leg would have been broken by doing that. Apparently chicks generally migrate from that area in mid-September, so Koo does have some time to work on his skills. My husband suggested that he might eat on the ground rather than in a tree - which I admit hadn't occurred to me. It would increase his vulnerability to predators - but does seem more manageable than trying to hold onto both a branch and a fish with his one good leg - though it looks as if he may have some control over the talons in the other leg, so might figure a way to hold food with them. Maybe. I guess we'll learn from his experiences - for good or for bad. I am pleased to see him flying - and as you say, if he can figure out the food thing, I think he may have a chance. |
| Anne UK1 | 08/12/09 01:34 pm | Thanks Judy. I imagine there must be photos of Koo prior to ringing that would show his leg was already damaged beforehand. It's difficult to tell from still shots, but in one I thought it looked as if the talons on that leg were in a different position, so that may mean he has some grip that he can make use of - just a case of him adapting, but then if he's never known anything else that may be easier than we'd think. All we can do is wish him well - the same as all the other juvies making their way in this big world. It's not easy for any of them - luck plays as big a part as anything, it seems. |