Osprey 2015

[Bill Anderson]

I am going to start a separate thread for osprey photos, as I anticipate taking many now that both the Meadowdale Softball Complex pair and the City Wide Fence (former Dunn Lumber) pair are on nests.

Monday evening (6/8) I drove over to City Wide Fence to check out the new nest platform while my son was playing tennis. To bring everyone up to date, the osprey's old nest was in a cellphone tower located in the Dunn Lumber yard. Having the nest in the tower presented problems for the tower's owners, so they contracted with Osprey Solutions LLC (http://www.osprey-solutions.com/Home.html) to remove the nest, "osprey proof" the tower, and build a new nesting platform in the nearby wetlands that border the City Wide Fence site. All parties involved, including the city of Lynnwood, expedited the process so as not to interfere with the osprey's nesting cycle.

The old nest site on the upper platform of the tower, now osprey-proofed.


After the nest on the upper platform was removed, the osprey started building a nest on the lower platform. This nest was also removed and the lower platform was osprey-proofed as well.


A new nest platform was constructed at the south end of the City Wide Fence site.


The male continues to use the old sentry tree in the wetlands, which is now closer to its nest.


The male made one flight over the nest with a fish, then returned to the sentry tree. I had not heard any sounds or seen any activity at the nest and did not know if the female was present.

 

[Bill Anderson]

After returning to the sentry tree, the male had to deal with continual harassment by the evil minions of the Dark Lord who were trying to steal a meal.






Stare down.


After filleting the fish, the male flew back to the nest.

 

[Bill Anderson]

The male delivered the fish to the nest. I had still not heard or seen any activity at the nest.




The female eventually appeared.


The male took off with part of the fish. He has to eat, too.




My son has tennis lessons at nearby Lynndale Park two nights a week, so I will use the opportunity to monitor the nests of both the Meadowdale softball complex and All City Fence pairs of osprey.

 

[squirl033]

nice series, Bill! glad they took to the new nesting platform. looks like the male already had chowed down on the flounder before bringing the back half to the nest... that's pretty common - i've seen the one at the Riverside nest do the same thing often.

 

[squirl033]

here's one of the Riverside osprey bringing a half-eaten flounder back to its mate... still no sign of chicks as of Monday evening...

 

[Bill Anderson]

I have seen that behavior with the Meadowdale softball complex osprey pair as well, only the female will sit and chirp incessantly at the male until he delivers the fish.
.

 

[squirl033]

I have seen that behavior with the Meadowdale softball complex osprey pair as well, only the female will sit and chirp incessantly at the male until he delivers the fish.
.

yup... she nags him till be brings back sushi take-out!

 

[Bill Anderson]

Tuesday (6/9) Daren and I found an osprey filleting a fish high up in one of the tall trees on Daley St. in Edmonds, just east of 7th Ave. In past years I have seen the (same?) osprey use this tree as an intermediate stop before heading back to a nest farther inland.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Wednesday we went up to the Everett marina in search of diving Caspian terns. There are several osprey nests built on old pilings north of the marina. You will need a telephoto package of at least 500mm to photograph them.











One of my bird books says Everett has one of the largest osprey "colonies" in the state.

 

[Bill Anderson]

I have been told by a local birder that there is an osprey nest in the vicinity of Sound Transit's Lynnwood transit center. Thursday morning (6-11) I was at Mini Park (Sprague Pond) in Lynnwood and photographed an osprey harassing a passing eagle. Given the distance and direction, I suspect it was one of the osprey from that nest.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Tuesday evening (6/15) I checked on the City Wide Fence osprey nest. No sign of the male, who must have been off fishing. The female popped up for a moment, then settled back down on the nest. She called out for the male, so maybe there are now chicks to feed.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Tuesday (6/16) I went over to Sprague Pond at Mini Park in Lynnwood while my son was working out at the gym. An osprey perched in a tree on the opposite side of the pond, then dove in for a fish. I got shots of its splash down and take off out of the pond, but the good shots did not kick in until it landed on a tree on my side of the pond.

7D + 100-400L telephoto zoom, handheld




Notice the hummer on the left.


Two hummers flew around the tree investigating the osprey. I got shots of one of them retreating.

 

[Bill Anderson]

I switched to the 5DIII + 500L + 1.4x which I had set up on my tripod to photograph birds on the far side of the pond. The osprey ate a portion of the fish before taking off. I suspect it is from the nest near the Lynnwood transit station.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Monday evening (7/6) I checked up on the nest of the City Wide Fence osprey. The egg(s?) have hatched, as I could see movement in the nest. The male was perched on the sentry tree in the adjoining wetlands.


A large flock of the evil minions of the Dark Lord were perched on nearby trees. Many more arrived while I was there.


The female kept calling for the male the entire time I was there, but there were no evening food deliveries.


The female left the nest for about five minutes. I was afraid the crows might raid the nest, but they did not. I later saw what looked like the back of a hatch-ling's wing. It looked fully feathered, so the baby(s?) may be too large to attract the crows.




The male osprey never flew to the nest while I was there and I saw no fish on the branch where it was perched.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Monday afternoon (7/13) I went to Ballinger Park in nearby Mountlake Terrace while my son was playing tennis. Standing on the fishing dock looking southeast, I saw an osprey delivering a large stick to the nest located about a mile away on a cell phone tower in Shoreline, just south of 205th St. and just west of I-5. I thought it is rather late in the season to be adding to the nest, as most osprey have laid eggs and hatched chicks by now.







As I was walking the park I heard an osprey calling. Looking up, I saw three osprey circling overhead. There was no hostilities among the three, so maybe it was a family outing. Here are two of the three.


In some of my photos, one osprey had a leg extended while the other remained tucked next to its body. I wonder if this is the same osprey I have seen over the past 3-4 years flying over Hwy. 104 heading southeast from Edmonds towards the cell phone tower, about five miles away. It used one leg to carry fish and I assumed the other leg was crippled.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Wednesday afternoon (7/15) I heard the distress cries of gulls as I left the Edmonds IGA market and immediately scanned the sky for an eagle. To the west I saw one chasing an osprey with a fish. The chase went on for several minutes as they flew out of sight. The osprey held on to the fish and the eagle did not get really aggressive with the osprey.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Thursday evening (7/16) I checked up on the Dunne Lumber/City Wide Fence osprey pair while my son was playing tennis. It appears the pair had a single chick, which is now large enough to stick its head up above the nest during feeding.


Family portrait. Dad spent the time sleeping or trying to sleep.


Filleting a fish for junior.

 

[Bill Anderson]

With all the commotion, Dad couldn't sleep well at the nest and flew over the the sentry tree to resume his nap......






leaving Mom to deal with Junior by herself.


A Dream Liner made a low approach to land at Paine Field.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Osprey were diving off Sunset Ave. Saturday morning (7/18).






An osprey will pause to shake off the water after emerging from dive. Eagles have yet to learn this energy saving trick.

 

[squirl033]

good series, Bill! i have yet to get a shot of an osprey diving... as far as eagles not stopping to shake off the water, they seldom dive completely underwater the way osprey do, so they probably are a little behind on the learning curve...