Introduction

More good news to report in this Article 6 of the Osprey 2023 Season from both the Owosso and Boulders nests, regarding fishing success and nestlings.

The photo above is from near the Owosso nest, so it is likely one of the adults from there.

Owosso Nest

Last year I didn’t see the ospreys catching the Largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) that they prefer in the Willamette River.

On July 14, we spotted an Osprey with a large fish in its talons. After looking closely, we could see it was a Largescale sucker, and the reddish color indicated it was an adult (as the Wikipedia article linked above explains). The fish was too large for the Osprey to fly with it, and it began to eat–I suspect it would need to eat about half to bring it to the nest.

The next day, we spotted the male Owosso Osprey bringing a smaller fish to the nest; we were on the west side of the nest, and I thought it was unfortunate at the time, but the backlit photos turned out better than expected.

The exchange of the fish in the nest was fascinating to watch in silhouette, as the backlighting reduced the scene to the essential elements of form. The photo above captures the moment of handover from the male on the right to the female on the left.

The above image shows the female feeding a nestling about ten minutes after the male handed over the fish–our first confirmation that the Owosso pair successfully hatched an egg.

On July 18, we had a clearer view from the east side of the river of all three members of the Owosso Osprey nest, just as one of the adults flew off (either for a break from child care for the female or a return to fishing for the male).

Boulders Nest

The number of nestlings in the Boulders nest went up to three on July 16 as I closely watched the female providing shade to her brood and counted three heads under her wings. This is very encouraging as only one juvenile fledged in this nest in 2022, compared to three in 2020 and 2021.

Something I hadn’t seen yet this season was one of the Boulders Ospreys bathing in the river. On July 17, Hideko spotted a failed dive for fish that turned into an impromptu short bath. The photo above shows the Osprey as it lifted off from the water.

Having two active nests with growing nestlings this summer is a special treat!