Subject: RE: BS: In every thread someone has to be last!
From:
ranger1
Date: 16 Jun 04 - 09:15 AM
OK, BB, here's more info for you.
Osprey usually lay three eggs, reddish-brown with brown splotches, about the size of large chicken eggs. Our pair of osprey nest in the top of the largest white pine on a very small island about 100 feet from shore. Mum sits on the eggs and Dad does the fishing, but they do swap off nest duty fairly often. The female is about 1/3 bigger than the male, with a wingspan of almost 6 feet. Osprey eat only fish. After hatching, the young will be fed regurgitant for the first 10 days, afetr that, the parents will be kept busy feeding each baby osprey apx. 2 lbs of fish per day. They double in size every week for about the first five weeks, ending up the same size as the parents at the end of that time. The osprey in Maine are migratory, flying as far south as Peru. Our little osprey will have to be self-sufficient by the middle of September, which is when migration takes place. Also, during incubation and while the babies are small, the parent osprey will chase off all other birds that they consider a threat, but are vulnerable to human disturbance, especially kayakers paddling too close to the nest. Last year, the nest was abandoned after hatching because of a large watersports festival and hordes of people paddling right up to the island. The chicks died, either due to exposure, starvation of they got eaten while the parents were spooked off. We're hoping for better guidance on the part of the festival organizers this year.
So, BB, was that enough info for a sonnet?
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sj
