Right on schedule, Rosie laid her first egg on March 30 in the afternoon. With no fanfare, she lay in the nest bowl, fidgeted a bit and when she stood up, there was the egg. A number of chatters were there to witness the entire process. As was Richie, faithfully watching from the rail. He came over to see the egg and soon had his turn at lying on it briefly.
 Egg number one. Hatched March 30 at 2:10 pm.  Richie looking at his egg. cap by Robin  Richie on the egg 3:11 pm |  Rosie with her egg at 2:10 pm  Richie, Rosie and Egg One. 3 30 20 gif by J  Rosie at 9:48 pm on March 30 |
There will be some questions. One commonly asked question is how long it takes to make and lay an egg. The following information is about chickens, but the idea remains the same:
Most birds' reproductive organs are shriveled until Springtime, when they swell. At a successful CK, an ovum is sucked into the beginning of the oviduct where it is fertilized. Then it's squeezed into an area called the magnum, where the eggwhite (albumin) is added. This takes several hours. then it moves on to the shell-membrane stage (about an hour) and on to the uterus, where it gets its shell and coloring (about 20 hours).
Laying the egg takes only a few minutes, as can be seen in the video. The female is "pregnant" for about 24 hours. During this time, the female carries extra weight and is vulnerable, so she sticks close to the nest.
She may carry only one egg at a time, so a new CK is needed for the next egg. Keep watching!
Most birds' reproductive organs are shriveled until Springtime, when they swell. At a successful CK, an ovum is sucked into the beginning of the oviduct where it is fertilized. Then it's squeezed into an area called the magnum, where the eggwhite (albumin) is added. This takes several hours. then it moves on to the shell-membrane stage (about an hour) and on to the uterus, where it gets its shell and coloring (about 20 hours).
Laying the egg takes only a few minutes, as can be seen in the video. The female is "pregnant" for about 24 hours. During this time, the female carries extra weight and is vulnerable, so she sticks close to the nest.
She may carry only one egg at a time, so a new CK is needed for the next egg. Keep watching!
Egg Number 2 hatched out April 2 at 2:06 pm. There were over 30 watchers. Every move Rosie made was noted. Richie brought her the rest of his fish but she wasn't interested. She just lay there a long time. Finally, the telltale rippling was observed, she stood up and there was egg #2, right on schedule. Richie immediately took his turn incubating. Earlier in the day, the pair had been guarding against intruders quite a bit. The cam didn't show who these intruders were.
Watch for a third egg in a few days, perhaps Sunday.
Watch for a third egg in a few days, perhaps Sunday.
 Rosie laying egg, 2:06 pm |  Egg 1 and 2 cap by J |
 Egg 1 and 2 cap by guest1 |  Richie incubating right after egg 2 was laid. Cap by guest1 |
 eggs and rope in the nest cap by Crow April 3 |  Egg identification by J |
2 eggs, left is #1, right is #2 cap by guest1
Egg #3 arrived on April 5 in the afternoon. Again there were many watchers. The chatters have learned when an egg is imminent and avidly watch and comment. Richie was in attendance. The third egg was hard to see.
Rosie and three eggs April 5 cap by guest 1
A few humorous pictures on the nest during egg laying time.
 Richie hat for Rosie April 5 cap by guest 1 |  Move over Richie, my turn now April 4 cap by midi |
Yes it's a dead bird. (a gull probably). No it's not an osprey. No, they didn't kill it. NO, they don't eat it. Ospreys eat fish. It's a carcass, found and brought in presumably to serve as nesting material. It's soft, Richie likes to chew on it, they sometimes rest their head on it. It makes a nice feather bed and pillow. But to know for real why they bring bird carcasses to the nest, you'll have to ask the ospreys themselves. Just remember, trust the ospreys.
And having served its purpose, whatever that was, the carcass has now been dumped overboard.
And having served its purpose, whatever that was, the carcass has now been dumped overboard.
Incubating
Incubating is a quiet peaceful time. Rosie sits on the eggs and contemplates the world. Richie goes out fishing and when Rosie sees he has a fish, she calls for it, sometimes quite insistently. Just as insistent, when Richie delivers the fish, he demands his time on the eggs. Richie loves to incubate. Is this true of all male osprey?
Rosie takes this time to eat her fish and take a poop. She and Richie both step carefully around the eggs, curling their talons. They check the eggs at shift change. They also turn the eggs periodically and fluff up the nest bowl material.
This year, the quiet has been punctured by more guard calls, as other ospreys fly by the nest. At first, there were ospreys trying to land on the nest; now they seem to just fly by. The area has become more crowded and there is now a nest on nearby Marker 16 with an osprey pair (now apparently abandoned).
Richie wanted to try for a fourth egg, but Rosie let him know that she was done with CK's for the year.
 No More, Richie. April 6 cap by midi  Which egg is which? April 9 cap by guest1  Rosie's big fish present from Richie April 13 cap by guest1  Family together time April 8 cap by midi |  Okay we'll just sit together then.  Hi Kids! April 7 cap by Crow  Incubation time April 9 cap by midi  Struggling to hang onto the fish  Cozy incubation together |
 late night fish April 17 gif by J |  dual incubation April 19 cap by Judi |
 manmade webbing brought to nest, thankfully disappeared soon thereafter  Rosie with three eggs April 28 cap by calgal  Gracilaria in nest April 29 cap by Crow |  Co-incubating April 22  Rosie on strut (Rosie's Café) April 29 cap by midi  Richie brings a dead mammal to the nest May 7 |
