Oh, You Ospreys!

May and June are great times to see ospreys, those wonderful seaside raptors that love to dive into water to catch fish and nest high in trees or on platforms. I have seen ospreys at Marine Park, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and Broad Channel Park. They nest in May, and by June have little ospreys sticking their heads out of the nest. There have been osprey flyovers at Central Park, but I've never seen one land there. They have a very distinctive flight, which you can see in the video below.

Female osprey near her nest, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, June 7, 2017

The Filming the Feathers video was shot at a nest at Marine Park, two nests at Jamaica Bay and another nest at Broad Channel Park. Music is by Giuseppe Maria Cambini, Wind Quintets Nos. 1, 2 and 3, performed by Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet (obtained from MusOpen.org, a royalty-free music source). One of the nests at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge has two babies, which you'll see sticking their heads up and flapping their little wings.

The first osprey nest I saw was at Marine Park in July 2015. The rest of the photos are from May and June 2017, at all three sites.

Osprey, Marine Park, July 25, 2015

Osprey near her nest, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, June 7, 2017

Pale Male's Kids

Pale Male and Octavia have three baby hawks this year, and on June 1, the first kid fledged. On June 2, that kid was hanging out on Pilgrim Hill, south of the model boat pond. A second youngster left the nest on June 2, but was not terribly thrilled about spending the first day on a next-door building on an eighth-floor balcony, and was back on the nest on June 3.

The first of Pale Male's kids to fledge

The second to fledge, on a balcony

So it's time for more Chasing the Hawks in Central Park videos, and I filmed these two youngsters, plus Mom and Dad, on June 2. The second fledgling is a real crybaby, but I wasn't able to obtain clear sound of the wailing because the street noise was so loud, so I removed the audio. The photos and video of these birds were taken with the new Sony camera. I'm not yet sold on it, but will have to get used to it, I suppose.

The photos are not quite what I'd like, but I'm still getting used to the camera. They are a record of one of the first days after fledging. Octavia came to visit the first fledgling on top of a pine tree after bringing in a pigeon, but the shot didn't come out.

Whatever You Say, Willet!

A willet (Tringa semipalmata) joined about a hundred ruddy turnstones on June 1 on a pier at Broad Channel Park in Jamaica Bay and gave them all a talking-to. I'm not sure what this large shorebird was saying to the smaller shorebirds, but the bird was very loud! I filmed the willet for a couple of minutes, and I present the lecture in my most recent Filming the Feathers video.

A willet with ruddy turnstones, June 1, Broad Channel Park, Jamaica Bay.

I added a little music at the end of this short video, because the willet seemed to need a little accompaniment. As you will see, the turnstones weren't all that impressed. Soon after this video, the willet and the turnstones took off (the nearby osprey stayed a while longer).

I enjoyed photographing the willet, even though most of my shots show an open mouth!