When I checked last weekend there were no chicks yet in the Osprey nest. As it should be very close to that time, I headed out there again today. On arriving the female was on the nest. The encouraging sign was the change in her posture.
She was sitting higher, wings relaxed and similar to when raptors mantle their prey. This is different from when they are incubating eggs and from past experience indicates the chick(s) have hatched.
Even when standing up she maintained this posture. Now it was just a matter of waiting for some kind of confirmation that there were indeed new arrivals.
While doing so, the crows along the trail started kicking up a real stink. They were beside the tree where the male Osprey was roosting and at first I thought they were just harassing him.
The ruckus actually got the female to leave the nest briefly and then return. The crows were actually down lower in the trees than the male Osprey.
Finally I spotted their actual target, this Raccoon moving along a branch. The crows stuck with it and did not let up as it moved through the trees along the river bank.
An hour and a half after I arrived there was some activity on the nest with the female moving to the right side.
There was a fish in the nest and she tore off a small piece. Fish are usually only going to be kept in the nest when young are present.
Then the confirmation I was waiting for, feeding behaviour.
The female is obviously feeding chick(s). They must be fairly new arrivals and tiny still, as you cannot see any heads above the top of the nest yet.
She then moved to the other side and continued feeding young.
The last large piece she finished off herself. Now we will just have to wait and see how many chicks there are.
