Woolwich, Maine

We got some good news and some bad news from the Taste of Maine via their facebook page.

The good news is that one of the chicks took a short flight on Monday, July 22!  #1 was 8 weeks old that day, and the others were a day or two younger - I tend to think of fledging starting at 8 weeks, but there have been more than a few who have fledged at 7-1/2 weeks.  I haven't been able to get a lot of details - the cam has been down for a while, and the actual fledge was seen by someone dining at the restaurant who apparently got a s'cap on a cell phone and showed it to the someone on the staff - but there's no picture of the flight on their facebook page.

And I'm sad to report that we've lost one of the chicks.  Again, I don't have a lot of details.  I read the news when I got home and jumped in the car and went down to see what I could learn.  I spoke to one of the folks who works there, and he said all three were on the nest and looking fine Tuesday morning when he arrived, and he didn't pay much attention after that.  When he arrived Wednesday morning and checked the monitor, one of the chicks was lying on the nest with its wing hanging over the side.  

I watched the monitor for a while, and did not see any signs of life from the chick.  It's possible that there was some sort of underlying health problem that didn't become apparent until he/she started doing more flapping - or it might be that the fledgling misjudged a landing - or there might have been an attack on the nest. I was there about 45 minutes, and every time I checked the monitor, the two surviving chicks were flat in the nest, occasionally lifting their heads to look around; I didn't hear a peep the whole time I was there.  I did see a young eagle in the neighborhood - and there are lots of osprey around.

As I post this, it's been over a week since we lost the young one, and the other two chicks are looking great - so my guess is that the chick landed hard and probably died instantly. Rest in peace, young one, and fly free forever.

The picture above clicks bigger. I also have a picture from the other side of the nest, and several pictures taken from the monitor. I suspect not everyone will want to see them, so I'm putting them on a separate page - click here.

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If you'd like to see additional pictures from this nest, and from the osprey nest "around the corner" on the Sasanoa River, you can use the link for my Local Wildlife Home Page at the top of the page to see an index to all the visits.