Thursday, April 30, 2009

osprey web cam

I have been out and about on lakes in the last two weeks, which has been kind of fun despite the fickle weather. Yesterday we didn't get much for fish in our nets (we're doing a survey for muskellunge, the barracuda of the north) but I did see lots of birds, including bufflehead, goldeneye and bluebill (scaup) ducks, loons, broad winged and sharp shinned hawks, and the first yellow rumped warblers and ruby crowned kinglets of the spring for me. And osprey. We saw two of them, and they seemed to be following us for a while, maybe looking for a dead fish or two.

It later dawned on me that I had seen an osprey nest platform at a farm not too far from the lake we were on, and I recalled seeing a sign that said they had a Web cam on the nest. So when I got back to the office I Googled it and found this site:

http://www.osprey-webcam.com/ (For some reason the video only shows up on Internet Explorer; not so good for a Firefox fan like me)

I believe this is the same osprey pair we saw. The female is sitting on the nest and they have three eggs! I'm going to be following this site; thanks to the Schjeldahls of Windemere Township for providing a nest site and sharing the results with everyone!

6 comments:

Grizz………… said...

Hey, I'll look at the osprey nest tomorrow when there's daylight. BTW, aren't the muskie about ready to spawn there? Or do they not spawn as ae\\early as pike?

cindy said...

Deb, being out and about is a very good thing this time of the year. Even if it's work related. My house always gets very unruly and dusty in the spring...before gnats and mosquitoes!! I think it might even be in the MN state bylaws...every Minnesotan must be out and about in the spring or face penalties!! P.S. word verification...tries.

Jayne said...

Well, poo. Won't work for my iMac Safari or Firefox here either. Nice that your work allows you to see such wonderful sights! :c)

Anonymous said...

Great! if you want to see more osprey and bird live webcam I suggest you:
Live osprey web cam

Lausten North said...

Thanks for the link Deb. Can't wait to see the hatching. I've started my own blog, check it out if you have the time.

http://www.winter60.blogspot.com/

Deb said...

Grizzled- Good question about the muskie spawn. They are generally not as early as northern pike, who are already done, or walleye. We have had some good arguments at the office about how early we really need to put the nets in.

Cindy- It is perfectly acceptable, at this time of year, to totally ignore inside duties. It is SPRING after all!

Jayne- I wish they would fix that to make it accessible to everyone! I really can't complain about my job. It has been fun the last week or two.

Anonymous- thanks for the link! Always nice to see an osprey on the nest.

Lausten North- Your blog looks like something I want to explore further. Thanks for commenting!