Sunday, May 02, 2021

The Cradle Will Rock

After thinking this nest had failed, lo and behold there's a lone chick. Still retaining his floof, its a late but very welcome baby. Between the eagles, osprey and kestrels, and all the other wildlife thats taken hold in the remains of this abandoned place, its seems only when we leave things alone do they truly flourish. The Crade will Rock She mounts a spirited defense, combing the surrounding osprey back. Offense-Defense MommaFlyby EaglevsOsprey Although half the weight, Osprey are themselves extremely territorial and attack when they can. Eagle vs Osprey In their shadow the kestrels find a refuge of their own! KestrelNest KestrelNest Although even North Americas smallest (by weight) and largest (by weight) still have their impasse! NotInFocusDamn

Monday, April 19, 2021

Return to the Osprey Maze

Unfortunately it appears the Bald Eagle nest failed this year. But that doesnt stop them from harassing and generally lording over the Osprey Maze. EaglevsOsprey Eagle vs Osprey And while its sad this nest was not successful, bald eagles are enjoying a huge resurgence in NJ. In addition, the Osprey are back and in even greater number this time. I counted a few more nests this year so at this point lets just say they are every where. At some point I might even do a survey of the entire area. OspreyNest One of the cooler things in the day was the discovery of a kestrel nest! This is the first one I've found in Monmouth County. What's interesting about it is that they made it at the foot of the eagle nest, undoubtedly for the protection from hawks that it provides. kestrel prey transfer FemaleKestrelwSparrow Here you can see they took an old starling nest in this light fixture, and the eagle nest is right there next to it. EagleNestKestrelNest What they do is slide over the light bulb and I guess there a cavity back there. Havent been in the night to see if the light is actually on but Im guessing there's no way it is as those sodium lights get super hot.