New Season 2026 March/April Courtship and fish

3/30/2026

Richie and his new mate Wendy on their nest on the crane sheave. March 20, 2026. photo by Toaster 28.

Waiting for Rosie to return. Richie began bringing sticks to various places. To the light pole where they last build a nest and then to the Whirley Crane sheave where they had a nest in previous years. He had trouble getting the sticks to stay on the old light pole nest site. He began bringing sticks to various sites and finally seemed to settle on the crane sheave. This site was used in prior years, but was not particularly successful due to poor construction, wind, and predators. This time the nest looks much better, with a strong construction and more space in it.
But Rosie did not show up. Meanwhile, other migrants were flying in and nesting had started at the Richmond Yacht Club nest and the Porter nest on Canal Blvd., as well as nests at Point Molate. Some floaters came through and flirted with Richie. One came again and stayed. He accepted her. Then things began to happen more quickly. She came to the nest and he attempted a CK. She proved quite able at fishing for herself, showing a preference for Striped Bass. But as Richie continued to fly in nest material, she showed little interest. She seems quite young and inexperienced. Finally she caught on to his CK's and has brought some nesting material herself. He continues to bring her fish.
It appeared that she would stay, so the GGBA aptly named her Wendy the Welder, counterpart to Rosie the Riveter. The human watchers all seem to be happy with the name and have accepted Wendy, even as they fondly remember Rosie. They are happy to have a close-up camera view again. The Matrix Master has resumed his daily fish count and the osprey's daily activities are being recorded in detail.

Richie on he crane building a nest March 8,2026 photo by Toaster 28

Dangling rope on the nest. March 17, 2026 at 9:05 am. cap by PP.

Rosie the Riveter and Wendy the Welder.

Wendy with her fish. April 5 at 9am. Cap by dks.

Calling for a fish. April 10, 2026.photo by Toaster28.

Wendy in the "Rosie" spot. April 4, 2026 at 8:18 am. cap by PP.

Sheave nest in progess March 11, 2026 2:45 pm. Photo by Toaster28

Richie on his nest. March 20, 2026. 5:56 pm. photo by Toaster28.

the new couple on the nest cap by guest

CK.March 25,2026 unknown poster.

the couple on the nest. March 21, 2026 7;36 PM. Cap by guest.

Wendy soon showed her fishing skills, often appearing with a large striped bass. That seems to be her favorite. She was less adept at building a nest and Richie did all the stick transport. She seems young and inexperienced but has been a fast learner. She still catches her own fish but has also learned to call loudly for Richie to bring one. She has also learned to bring nest material, usually the smaller nest lining ..

CK on the nest April 9, 2026. cap by jest.

Richie brings in seaweed. April 3, 2026 at 5:29 pm. photo by Toaster 28.

photo montage by Toaster 28

The nest is taking shape. April 6, 2026. cap by dks.

The couple on the cable. April 2,2026. 5:56 pm. photo by Toaster 28.

Wendy gets caught in the dangling rope as she flies in, but able disentangles herself. April 3, 2026. Poster unknown.

During the summer off season, the Port of Richmond installed a new nest pole with a standard plastic nest bowl.the pole is rather short by osprey standards. The humans took all of the sticks from Rosie and Richie's nest on the light pole in the new car parking lot and transferred them to the new nest. Richie and his new mate have not shown any interest in moving onto that nest but they have visited it briefly several times.
They don't seem to take sticks from there for their new nest. It is an interesting experiment for chatters to watch a human versus osprey interaction. (Note: while the photo seems to show the nest in the parking lot, it is actually across the street in a fenced in area right by a boat slip. It is much shorter than the light poles in the parking lot. Cap is from April 4, 2026 by PP. Other cap unknown.