Milford Point Osprey update

Avid Osprey watcher Kevin Doyle shared more of his fantastic images of the Osprey family at our Costal Center on Milford Point with us. These images span a little over a week and as you can see below, things can get quite intense at the nest still! Kevin mentioned that occasionally when the male leaves the nest to go fish, rogue, unattached Osprey would hone in on the female and harrass her. At times these birds get too close for comfort and the female even gets up from the nest to give chase, watched closely by her offspring. In the photograph below you can see one of such instances (also note the tiny House Sparrow diving for cover as the big guns squabble up top -- House Sparrows are actually nesting in the bottom of the Osprey nest!)
Even though family life is in turmoil at times, the Osprey are seemingly doing very well and many fish are dragged in on a daily basis to feed hungry mouths.

The photograph below was taken yesterday (6/7/2010) by Kevin Doyle, and shows clearly that all four chicks are accounted for and growing very well. We'll be in for clumsy aerial acrobatics soon - stay tuned!

Photographs by Kevin Doyle