The osprey season ends when Rosie flies South for the Winter.  The WWOC celebrates the end of season each year with a party. This year was special since it was the first time chatters had been able to gather together in person since 2019. Our Fish Matrix Master and Band Leader had, however, kept us well entertained with videos on Youtube throughout the drought period. These are available on his youtube channel. Below is a video of the live performance this year. 

 The party was a great success, with a fun time had by all. East Brothers Beer kindly provided the stage as in the past. We had a new banner with a new logo. Chatters brought desserts, many in the shape of fish. There was even some dancing. And a Pied Piper to draw everyone away from the cakes and over to the stage area. Prizes were awarded. And the band played old favorites, as well as a new song for this year's third chick Lupine. And midi introduced a new theme song for the WWOC, as well as a quiz on the band letters. 
The Nest Item museum was on display and some chatters displayed their art, photography and writing. What a talented group!
And somehow, the peripatetic pig named PP showed up! Nobody (except one?) knows how he got there or how he left, but presumably he enjoyed the party. And partook of the many desserts and whipped cream. 

The Last Day of Summer   
  
Tis the last day of summer
And the ospreys have flown away.
Do you see Rosie up yonder
She too is flying today.
 
She will fly thousands of miles,
To her warm winter home
Find her favorite  Southern beach,
Spend the winter there alone.
 
So farewell to our dear Rosie,
May the wind in your wings be fair
May the skies above be blue
And a warm welcome greet you there.
 
Richie is at the nest
Watching for his mate Rosie.
After your long winter rest,
Rosie, will you return to me?
 
Tis the last day of summer,
And the ospreys have all flown.
Do you see Richie up yonder
Standing on the nest alone?

midi October 2021
 

Be sure to visit the nest cam occasionally. You might see intruders such as gulls and crows, see the beautiful night view of San Francisco, or see favorite boats go by. It is always a beautiful, calming view. And if you are feeling lonely, just log onto chat to join the always lively conversation. You'll find plenty of laughs and who knows, you might even learn something. About ospreys? Yes. But also about literature, art, cooking, words and whatever else you can imagine. 

And then there is just the beautiful view of the nest we get from the nest cam. 
​

September Update
Scroll down for for more detailed information with the most recent at the bottom. 

 July
All three chicks have successfully fledged and are doing well. This is only the second year to have three chicks fledged. Now the focus is off the nest, as they learn to fly and fish. They can be seen in the area. Re Tony\, our expert scientist, ospreys can be seen following their parents to fish and being fed off the nest. It should be noted that there are other osprey nests in the area now, so more ospreys are flying around. This includes the Richmond Yacht Club nest and nests in Pt. Molate and off the Richmond-San Rafael bridge. The population is increasing!

During the day, they may rest on the nest, sit quietly watching or call loudly for fish, then squabble over it and eat it when it comes. (VZ) Lupine, the youngest, appears to spend the most time on the nest. 

For more enjoyment, visit the sfbayospreys Youtube page where there are many videos of the ospreys. Here is one below of a fish falling over the edge of the nest. 

Viewers often wonder why Richie and Rosie move off the nest to roost on wires and rails. While the nest would be most comfortable for us flat-footed humans, ospreys have talons that grip and lock even while they are sleeping. Thus the rail and cables are more suited to their talons. And the nest is for chicks and raising a family. It appears to serve no purpose to the ospreys other than that. There is no need for a nest for an adult osprey who is not mating and raising chicks. 

As the nest is empty much of the time, other birds take advantage of this to rest, to claim the nest, or to pick up tidbits of fish jerky. 

We humans can never know which day will be the last time we see a chick on the nest. We can only take caps then go back later to find the last photo we have. Here are last photos for the three this year. If you have a later cap, please let us know. 

September   The fledglings have definitely left the nest and have not been seen. They may be still flying around the area or staging somewhere in the general area or may have already started their migration. They do not fly in a straight path the first year (see the book Belle's Journey about an osprey on the East Coast for a good overview of this process) and take longer to reach their winter home as a result. Rosie leaves later as she is an experienced flier and knows where she is going. She generally leaves mid-September. 
Richie and Rosie can be seen near or on the nest almost every day right now, renewing their bond. They sit together, Richie often looks at Rosie, and he has engaged in mating behavior such as mantling before her.  nest floomphing, or nestorating. Rosie is more content just to sit. Does she contemplate her upcoming journey or does she just take off one day when the urge hits? We humans know so little about this and can only observe the birds to learn more. 

Rosie and Richie spent nights together, either on the ROV wires or on the nest railing. The evening of September 9, Rosie brought a fish to the nest and kept it all night. Richie brought one as well. He kept looking at Rosie. The next day she flew off and we haven't seen her since. We assume she migrated. 

Now Richie is alone in Richmond. He has been spending the nights and parts of each day on the railing of the nest. He often looks towards the hills, as though he is watching for Rosie. He appears to be staying close to the nest more than in the past. 

After watching for over a week, Richie also left the nest. He has not been seen since September 17. In the past, he has been sighted at Meeker Slough and around the ship channel in the Winter months. He will start appearing on the nest more as Rosie's return become imminent, around late February. Some years he has visited the nest occasionally starting in December. 
If you see Richie around the area, or any other osprey (a few males appear to stay around), please let the chat know. Go to sfbayospreys.org and log onto chat. There is the possibility that he might visit the San Pablo Reservoir as well. If you see one of the banded offspring, we would also love to know. We know that two have returned to the area but they have only been seen once. 

Farewell to our Rosie and the three chicks she and Richie raised. May you have a safe journey and a good time down South. And Richie, we hope to see you around the area. 
For osprey lovers who miss the ospreys, there are many videos taken by our faithful VA on sfbayospreys youtube channel. Or log onto chat to talk about ospreys (and much else!) with other osprey lovers. sfbayospreys.org. It is free and open. You need only choose a chat name No other log in or information required. 

The chicks' feathers have come in, their wings have grown large, the chicks have almost reached their adult weight, and they have become more independent. The next few weeks will be all about wings, as they exercise their wings then learn to hover and finally fledge. This is an exciting but nail-biting time for the human observers. See the calendar below for the approximate dates. It is assumed that since this set of chicks hatched earlier than in years past, they will also fledge a bit earlier. 
​For more detailed pictures by video, see the sfbayospreys Youtube page.

June 19: The chicks are all beginning to hover. This year, they are closer in development and are hovering at the same time. Who will be the first to fledge?

Wing stretching.  June 19.   Video by VA. 

 (ZP)Poppy hovering taking the nest with him  June 25   video by VA

(WR) Sage hovering  June 25   video by VA

Sage fledges to the rail, June 25, 2021

Sage (WR) fledged to the railing around the nest on June 25. There was some discussion whether this was a true fledge or accidental. But he proved his mettle afterward by flying back to the nest and subsequently flying up on the crane. Each day he has flown, quickly becoming adept and flying out of cam sight. The other two watch with interest. Rosie seems to fly to the crane to encourage Sage and the others to fly to meet her. 

The other two watch their sibling. Poppy (ZP) has tried flapping but can't seem to get airborne. Lupine (VZ)  is still a baby, lying down to sleep and wanting to be fed. He is also the youngest. 

After fledging, Sage quickly learned to take off and land and frequently flies to the crane and even circles over the Bay. Lupine and Poppy watched and on June 30 began to hover more. Both had long , successful hovers. But Poppy had trouble landing, using his claws to poor effect and not folding her wings. 

sThe morning of  July 1, one chatter's birthday, Poppy finally fledged. Apparently she had learned overnight how to land. She landed on the boom of the crane, a bit awkwardly but holding on well. Her brother was up there to cheer her on and to greet her. The parents were absent. Perhaps they decided that it was time for the offspring to learn on their own. 

The fledgling are not accomplished fishers yet and they will continue to return to the nest to sleep and to get fed. Like good human parents, Rosie and Richie will be glad to comply with both their teenagers' need for independence and their need for their basic needs still to be met. 

Three chicks have successfully hatched and survived the first few days. Now the fun begins.  They are just leaving the bobblehead stage. There have been one or two Bob'em fights between Chicks 1 and 2. 

The chicks are eating well. They pop up their heads when hungry or when they know a fish is there. Rosie makes sure all three are fed. Then they topple into a food coma until the next feeding. Chick One has begun poking its head out and even venturing a bit beyond the nest bowl. 

Richie tries hard to be a good father and mate. But his actions often make human chatters laugh, as he appears awkward. He expertly brings fish to his family, even traveling all the way to San Pablo Reservoir to get a tasty trout. He also brings nesting materials. He is not bringing human objects to the nest much now, thanks to clean up efforts. Unfortunately, fishing line and ropes still lie around the shore. A yellow rope was in the nest but is now buried but a pink plastic twine presents more danger. Thankfully, the birds removed it from the nest bowl recently but it is still on the nest itself. Richie has also been brining large sticks, presumably to act as rails for the growing chicks. But one acted briefly as a cage, hiding the chicks from our view. It was moved around and gradually reduced in size and moved to the edge of the nest. 

May 14: The chicks grow quickly, as you can see on the calendar of growth Chicks #1 and#2 are already developing their second dark down (not all ospreys have this second growth, but ours do), which makes it easy to distinguish them from Chick #1. All three poke their heads up when a fish comes and eagerly open their beaks. Chick #1 (Tug) seems to be the most assertive. But Chick #3 (Clipper) makes sure it gets its share. They are also just beginning the bop 'em stage where they fight briefly but without harm (at this nest anyway). Chick #1 has ventured beyond the nest bowl. 

 Both Rosie and Richie are good parents. Rosie stay with the chicks at all times, only taking a brief break when Richie is there. At night, she is often alert, watching for any dangers. Richie is also nearby, ready to hurry to the nest to chase away any danger. Richie wants to babysit but isn't sure how, so he just stands there. But he provides for his family. Not only large sticks for crib rails but he faithfully brings fish up to 6 times a day, even flying to the reservoir for trout. (See Fish Matrix for more information on the fish or Archives September 2018). 

Richie and Rosie are kept busy bringing new sticks as nest railings, bringing fish and feeding the chicks. They are beginning to leave the chicks alone briefly but are always nearby in case of danger. This year, there have been more osprey intruders flying by. Rosie and Richie handily chase them away and there have been no untoward incidents on the nest. There are fun videos to watch on the sfbayospreys.org Youtube page of the sticks being flown in, often landing on Rosie or the chicks. They seem to take this in stride.Richie has been asking for some CK's, to tighten his relationship with Rosie.

Richie brings a stick.   May 17, 2021

In the early morning of June 5, the chicks were banded without fanfare. The cam went down and a few hours later, Tony\ gave word that they had been banded. The birds in the nest were surprisingly calm. Richie had brought a fish earlier. Tony\ left a fish in the nest when the crew was done and Rosie took it, flew away then returned with it and fed the chicks. Below are the accounts and information.

Tony\'s report on the banding:
​As mentioned in Robin’s post yesterday, banding of the three nestlings was carried out uneventfully yesterday. Teresa and the rest of the crack banding crew found all of the nestlings to be quite robust, and they were fairly calm upon return to the nest.
The weights indicated that the nestlings are all males. Here are the masses. I’ve assumed that the ages and weights are in the same order. Examining the wing chord is consistent with this assumption. That measurement, like others involving feather growth, is still in a step part of the growth curve.
This time Rosie came back to the nest pretty quickly. That was likely in part due to us getting out of site as quickly as possible, but maybe more so because Richmond showed up with a fish just as Ben and I were heading down from the crane. Lat year he showed up well before we were finished, so he took ended up consuming that fish. Rosie quickly flew to the nest just after Richmond, and grabbed the Largemouth Bass that I had left. Richmond fed them for a bit, then allowed the young to have it themselves. Eventually Rosie returned with the partially eaten bass and fed the young, and thigs continued as normal.

​

As can been seen in the chart, it is assumed that the three chicks are males. This is based on their weights at their given age. Later confirmation would be a lack of chest speckles and, of course, mating behavior in the future. 

When the banders band the birds, they also weigh them and take other measurements. Tony\ takes the opportunity as well to clean up the nest of hazardous materials and to service the washer. Too many human objects were found in the nest, as usual, the most dangerous being a rope entangled with fishing line. 

Richie brought sticks as gifts to his mate and the first chick. One has to wonder about his placement of them. But Rosie takes it all in stride. 

Chick #3 hatched out on May 5 at 4:51 pm. The hatch was a bit hard to watch as a stick was in the way. But first viewers saw a pip, then Rosie carried away a shell fragment and then the chick was evident. It quickly entered the fray and has fended for itself in the midst of its two siblings. 

Richie has brought a female friend to visit, but Rosie will have nothing of it! Or was Richie trying to chase the female away? Who can know?
Video by VA on sfbayospreys youtube channel

Another osprey predilection that the humans don't understand: bringing desiccated bird carcasses to adorn the nest. Perhaps because there are no human made plush toys available  this year? Insulation? Soft pillows? we humans can only groan and guess. 

Now begins incubation. Both Rosie and Richie incubate. In fact, Richie is noted for demanding his time on the eggs. This year, Rosie seems to be ceding him more time and he appears more relaxed in his duties. In his fifth season on this nest, he is an experienced Dad. (There is evidence that he was at the RTYC nest a year prior to this nest, so we don't know his entire mating/nesting history). 
Richie's other duties are to guard the nest, flying to the nest anytime he sees an intruder, to bring fish to Rosie, and to bring nest items Rosie will also bring items. Unfortunately, both have begun bringing HMO's (human made objects) to the nest lately: two plastic bags, a hard red plastic thing and a rope. More information on these objects can be found in the Fish Matrix, logged along with the fish. 

Fish delivery in three caps on April 5. Caps by PP and C.  And a glimpse of the eggs, cap by C

Life continues calmly for the osprey couple. Richie brings a fish or two daily. Otherwise, he stays nearby, ready to defend the nest when necessary. He is often on the rail, especially at night. And Rosie stays on the nest, except for short breaks. Richie will nudge her off the eggs and take his turn, while she bathes, catches her own fish or takes a poo break. It is fun to watch one tap its mate lightly with curled talon to urge it to get up off the eggs.
​They have the routine down this year. There are fewer human made objects in the nest this year probably due to clean-up efforts by concerned citizens. There has been a brown plastic bag, which isn't too hazardous for the adult ospreys and two small red plastic items. Of course, Richie always has to have something red in the nest!

Good Samaritans cleaned up the Sandpiper Spit area and found the following. Midi and others also found fishing line at Tepco beach. Please, if you are are fisherman's dispose properly of your fishing line and lures. They are very dangerous to birds and other wildlife. A dead osprey was found recently at Pt. Pinole dangling from fishing line and hook. Also dispose of other trash in receptacles. Six pack plastic is very dangerous and are plastic bags and other human trash. Carelessness can lead to death for our beloved wildlife! If you see trash that is dangerous, please pick it up safely (gloves) and dispose of it in a receptacle.