Rosie and Richie have definitely chosen the Light Pole as their nest. Richie brings in sticks while Rosie mainly sits on the nest. A few fish have been delivered, probably more than we can see. Life is peaceful on the new LIght Pole nest. On April 18, Rosie laid her first egg. We have no direct evidence but experienced watchers saw her make all the telltale moves, the laying stance then the incubating scooch. She continues to show moves such as nestorating (airing the nest) and scooching into position over the egg. Richie spends time with her. It will be hard to tell when Richie takes over incubating to give her a rest. Our faithful VA is working hard at recording all the key minutes. 

Richie delivers a clump. April 16, 2024. video by Toaster28

On April 21, there was a skirmish at the old nest site. Richie appeared to be defending the nest from two other ospreys, possibly a young male and female. Some fancy footwork was seen. It seemed to end in a stand-off. 

May 11: While we cannot see the nest close up, Rosie's behavior has indicated that she has laid at least one egg and probably two. There could possibly be three. She is definitely showing incubation behavior, with her position and staying on the nest. Richie brings fish regularly and takes over incubation so that she can eat. This is all appropriate osprey behavior that they have shown before. The only difference is that the humans don't have a direct view. There have been some skirmishes, both when Richie has a fish and others want it and with Richie still defending the Whirley Crane as his territory even though there is no nest there. 

Rosie spends almost all her time on the nest, except for a poop relief or to eat her fish. Richie spends some time on the crane. It seems to be a good place to watch for fish. At night he sleeps on the ship cable they used before nesting. This may be more comfortable for him with his damaged talon. 

Well, this has been an interesting start to the season. After Rosie returned, she and Richie played around, alighting here and there but showing little interest in the old nest, which is now empty of material, or the sheave nest they built last year. They brought sticks here and there but couldn't settle on ons spot. Meanwhile, the crows and the gulls were harassing them and showing interest in the crane. In the end, Rosie started roosting on a light pole and soon she and Richie were bringing sticks there. Now it appears that they have definitely chosen that light pole as their nest area this year. They have upped their delivery of sticks and a real nest is forming. Meanwhile, Rosie is beginning to stay on that nest more and may even be spending the night there instead of on the ship cables where they had been sleeping. There have been a few CK's. 

Of course, this makes it harder for the viewers to see the ospreys close up. The camera operators are doing a great job trying to get close-ups of the pole and our own Toaster28 has been providing photos and videos from the ground and reporting on the birds' activity. The ospreys choose; the humans can only go with the flow. 

Meanwhile, there are many more ospreys around the port area now, as well as at Pt. Molate and even Pt. Isabel. The ospreys in these nests are all paired up and nesting in earnest. The nest by the entrance to the car lot has a young, handsome couple nicknamed the Porters. There is a nest off Canal Blvd nicknamed the Wharfers. And of the nests at Pt Molate, three are easy to access: the nest by the entrance to the park, a nest on the right side of the road at a pull out by the tracks, and a nest in the harbor  next to the Sailing Goat Restaurant. At Point Isabel, there is a nest on a structure in the water off the trail South of the sail surfer access point. I was able to watch the male fly over to the shallow area, dive, catch a fish and deliver it to his mate. They are nicknamed Brooks and Isabel. . Happy osprey watching!

April 17
Rosie and Richie have definitely chosen LightPole 1 (aka7) as their nest platform this year. Sticks have been brought and nesting materials and the nest is beginning to look viable to the human watchers. Fish are being eaten on the pole as well. But they seem to be sleeping on the wires at night still.. There is as yet no sign of Rosie laying eggs. There is still time. The weather changed today, to the warm upper 70's and plenty of sunshine.