my first day in 2 weeks going to forsythe. was sick for one week and then lousy weather and the state bird aka green head is out in numbers. 2 nests have chicks now
the gull and osprey were really having a good chase going on. ospreys get highly upset if any other bird gets close to their nest although at times it looked like the gull was chasing the osprey
Funny, I was in the same situation, for different reasons...this past weekend was my first back out to the wetlands for about a month. ; Disney trip one weekend, sick the next weekend, ; horrible weather/rain the one after that. ; This past weekend involved dodging the late afternoon rains, but it was nice to get back out there. ; Our tricolor herons, cattle agrets, snowy egrets, stilts, and moorhens are all in nesting phase or have babies. ; The GBHs, night herons, blue herons, and egrets all seem to be done, with the kits having left the nests already. nice shots and cool scene of the gull and osprey, and that head-on osprey shot.
At least you had a clean car for a few days, Howie. ; ; Have you ever thought of getting an Insect Net hat? ; I used one the summer I was up in the Adirondacks. ; Works great as you can still look through the viewfinder. Insect Netting Hats If you have any Army/Navy stores around, check it out.
thanks Jeff. Scott I started using avon skin so soft with bug guard and it worked pretty good. there were hundreds of green heads around me and I only got bit twice in 3 hours. the worse part of them damn things is getting all the dead ones out of the car as they get in every crevice
Great shots Howie! ; Glad you are feeling better and getting some birds for us to look at. ; You feel well enough to come mow my lawn?
near almost all the osprey nests at forsythe there are these perches. the purpose to me is unknown but what I have observed is that one of the parents will be in the nest with the chicks and the other will be on this perch and if any intruders come by the one on the perch will chase it off. this was taken just after the encounter with a gull and after chasing it off it returned to the perch.
My guess is your guess is correct, Howie. ; I would also conjecture that in the wild, Ospreys looking for nesting sites choose ones with perches nearby. ; So, the refuge has tried to duplicate that setup with the artificial nesting platforms.
on the back nest there is a natural perch there and they use it all the time. sometimes they will stop and eat some of the fish on the perch before bringing it to the nest to share with their mate
