Jordan Lake: Osprey mom and dad. Mom showed up first, all full of herself! She occasionally chirped from her perch. Then far off, I heard a second chirp. Dad appeared and all was right in the world as the couple reunited after their long solo migrations.
Jordan Lake: H&G nest. Hershey and Godiva have hatched a chick or chicks! They may have hatched them yesterday but I wasn’t 100% certain of that because I could not distinctly see any kind of feeding behavior. This morning I could see the behavior. That is Godiva leaning over to feed the chick, she stands up, looks around, and instantly goes back to feeding the baby. Hallelujah!
Jordan Lake: this very aristocratic yearling is one of the Gang of Eight. I had been watching the H&G nest, trying to see if eggs had hatched (I was not able to verify that). Then I watched five of the members of the Gang of Eight go streaming past me and most of them went around the corner. This yearling lingered behind.
Jordan Lake: This white-breasted nuthatch has found an egg case or perhaps a larval sack and is thoroughly enjoying his breakfast this cold morning. Didn’t take him long to finish off his meal and then off he went looking for other food. Take care, stay safe. Stay very warm!
Jordan Lake: Three of the three year olds – actually that’s all of the three olds of the gang of eight – have been pestering the nest this morning. Mom Loblolly finally caught one of them not really being on guard and she chased the 3 year old hard. I hope to put up some of the photos of that chase later. But thought I would share this natural minute of Loblolly after she did the chasing and she’s doing a little bit of grooming. Hope you enjoy the little video. #DocEllensNaturalMinute
Jordan Lake: Mom Loblolly brought a nice-sized fish to a tree for her breakfast yesterday. She ate it in a hurry, keeping a close eye out for any of the Gang of Eight. When Loblolly finished her meal, she did a short skip over to an outer branch of the tree where she was perched. Mom’s head nodded and cocked and I could tell she was looking for a repair stick for the nest. Up in the air Mom went and she did indeed break a fair-sized branch away from the tree. I watched in concern, not that the load was too big for her (it wasn’t), but because instead of making a straight line for the nest, she suddenly veered. At the point where the parking lot at the shelter came into her sight, she dipped a wing, and detoured out more than a 1000 feet before heading much further up the shoreline. Around the northern bend of the shoreline, Mom with her stick turned back towards the nest. Instead of a few wing beats to get to the nest with her stick, Loblolly’s flight was about tripled. I don’t know if it was visitors in the parking lot or possibly one of the Gang of Eight that caused the large detour. Either way I mused on the extra energy Loblolly was expending in an effort to get a stick to the nest for the repair. With all the high gusty winds we have had lately, I would not be surprised if several of the bald eagle nests at Jordan Lake have been in need of repair. I just wish Loblolly wasn’t having to make detours for any reason.
doc ellen's journey 