Introduction

The 2023 Osprey season will soon be over as the juveniles have all fledged, although they sometimes continue to beg for fish from the nests.

In this tenth article, we look at interactions with Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura), notice the ubiquitous presence of an insect that I think are yellowjackets¹, and find one of the juvenile Ospreys enjoying a bath in the river.

Ospreys & Turkey Vultures

In August 2021 I noted interactions between Turkey Vultures and Ospreys along the river involving contention over fish that an Osprey had caught. I wrote about those observations in two articles from the 2021 season (click on the links below):

• Osprey Season 2021 Learning to Fish
• Osprey 2021 Season Uncertainties

I hadn’t seen any of these interactions since 2021.

In August, we saw an Osprey perched on a tree downstream from Owosso Bridge and didn’t notice that it had a fish in its talons until I looked at the photo later that day (see photo above).

As we approached the Owosso Osprey nest we heard one of the adults and the juvenile screaming at a group of Turkey Vultures gathered on the ground nearby. While we watched, the adult Osprey flew from the nest and dived at the Turkey Vultures, and one of them flew off with what appeared to be part of a fish, that it must have stolen from the Ospreys at some point.

The Turkey Vulture below was part of the group that was annoying the Ospreys by their presence at the scene of the crime. The grey head indicates this individual is a juvenile.

Boulders Juveniles with Fish

All three of the Boulders juvenile Ospreys have now fledged, based on my observations on August 27 when I saw a juvenile fly from the nest making a loud “Ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-“ call and landing on a nearby rooftop.

I think the juveniles were still receiving fish from the adults in late August, and I spotted one of the females with a largescale sucker fish perched on a roof on the morning of August 28, then saw it later on a tall snag with the fish in its talons (see the photo above). About four hours later, it was still in the same spot, had eaten more of the fish and was being harassed by yellowjackets, while there was a crow waiting for leftovers (in the photo below).

Boulders Runt Has Grown

By early September, the male runt from the Boulders nest had gotten bigger and no longer seemed so precariously small.

I saw one of the Boulders juveniles flying near the nest and after looking closely at the photos I determined that it was the runt male. Needless to say, I was happy to see him flying energetically.

Juveniles in Mid-September

After being away for a few days in mid-September, I wondered if the juvenile Ospreys were still around the nests. On the morning of September 15, we heard the Owosso juvenile begging from the nest platform, and it peered down at us as we walked below (note the yellowjacket off to the right).

We spotted one of the Boulders female juveniles bathing in the shallows of an island opposite the nest also on September 15.

On the morning of September 16, One of the juvenile Boulders Ospreys was eating a fish in the same snag as the above image, with the ever-present yellowjackets in attendance.

We spotted one of the Boulders female juveniles bathing again at the same spot on September 18. These young Ospreys are taking their hygiene very seriously.

It won’t be long before all these Ospreys depart on their journey south for the winter.

Nesting started late this year, but the Ospreys at the Owosso nest and the pair at the long-established Boulders nest have fledged four young Ospreys. I hope they have all learned to fish for themselves and are ready to begin the southward migration.

I recommend David Gessner’s Soaring with Fidel: An Osprey Odyssey From Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond to read about how Ospreys made the southward migration. This book follows East Coast Ospreys on their journey south, so the route differs from the West Coast Ospreys, but the story is relevant and compelling.

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1. I have pondered the identity of these flying insects and, at one point, thought they were hover flies (which don’t sting), but now I think they are yellowjackets (which do sting) based on the long antennae described by Daniel Mathews in his book Cascadia Revealed. ↩︎

Nature observations and photos by Tom Bodley