Hogback Rd. still in turmoil!

As Dick Tuttle reported in his e-mail Sunday the pair on nest #1 on Hogback Rd. are sitting tight. I was there Sunday evening with Troy Alpeter till after dark. We saw a nest change.

This Monday morning the female was nesting, the male was on the perch. About five after 8 o'clock the male took off to join the male from nest #4 to confront the fifth wheel hanging around the area. They few around and around the area for at least 15 minutes. The male from #1 disappeared, showing back up with a fish, which he took to the west bank to eat. Jim Martin shows up and says he followed TM down Hogback Road from St Rt 521.

Jim sets up his camera, and we watched the 5th wheel and male from 4 continual to circle, every once in a while the 5th osprey lands deep inside the trees on the east side of Hogback Rd., but the male from 4 dives in and gets her in flight again.

The male from #1 had his fill of fish, and takes it to the nest where the female grabs it and takes it to her normal tree to eat. The male (TM) takes over on the nest like a good osprey should.

A few minutes go by when the 5th wheel comes swooping down and tries to land on the nest. He jumps up and gets behind her and starts chasing, the female then comes in behind him. (Shes the blur in the photo above.) The 5th wheel takes off to the east side where the male from #4 is still waiting. The #1 pair go back to what they were doing before, male on nest and female in tree eating. When the female goes back to the nest, TM goes right back into the chase of the 5th wheel.

Both Jim and I pack up. I headed to the parking lot at the top of the hill to turn around. On the way back north I stop to observed nest #4, the female was still setting tight, but she is squawking, I believe she was trying to get her mate to return, as the male was chasing the 5th wheel well for over an hour.

I head half way down the hill directly across the empty nest #3, where the male from 4 had landed. I took a few photos of him and the other osprey who was circling above me. Then the squawk tone change to a warning, both osprey on #1 flew off the nest and were squawking! I look across the water, and low and behold there is a mature eagle crossing right over me. I start shooting photos as it passed, the male from #4 gives a brief chase. The eagle continued NE. The male from #4 went back to the chase of the unwanted osprey. The pair on #1 went back to sitting on the nest.

I believe the 5th wheel is the unbanded female that TM meet on his arrival back from South America. The female who is on #1 now is the same female from last year. The unbandded 5th wheel was trying to win him back and the nest. I don't believe she was attacking him. I saw them bonding for a few days until the big female fight.

Also note that Hogback Road will be closed today until Thursday just north of Howard Road for road repair. You will have to enter Hogback Road from St Rt 521.

Frank Germann