The second of two osprey eggs in an Osoyoos nest has hatched however its believed the first chick died and now there are concerns for the other one as well.
Friday morning the live webcam on the Town of Osoyoos website, showed the nest on a de-energized FortisBC power pole with just a single chick, thought to have hatched earlier in the morning.
Thursday the female was sitting on that remaining egg but there was no sign of the first baby that hatched Tuesday afternoon.
“There’s something going on in that nest, they kicked out their first two eggs (in early May)” said manager Dale Belvedere, of the SORCO Raptor Rehab Centre who has been monitoring the birds’ progress. “I noticed yesterday (Thursday) they’re (parents) both picking at the nest, playing with the twigs, I don’t know, they seemed a lot more agitated then osprey’s normally are.
“I’m wondering if there is something bothering them. I said let’s see what happens once this other one’s hatched and if it doesn’t survive then the town should call Fortis and get them up there to see what’s going on.”
Both parents were seen at the nest Thursday and the male was observed bringing a fish back to the nest mid-morning Friday.
The birds had two eggs in early May however those were eventually removed, believed to be by the parents.
“They were slightly earlier (laying the eggs) than what they should be but obviously they knew they weren’t viable cause they kicked them out which means there’s something wrong,” Belvedere said. “She knows there’s no point in sitting on them and osprey can lay their eggs anywhere from the beginning of June until now so she’s sort of right on, she’s a bit late but that could be because it’s the second brood.”
Other concerns involve the age and health of the parents and the location of the nest above a street with foot and vehicle traffic visible from the web cam. It is located near Osoyoos Elementary School on 68th Avenue.
“Ospreys are a highly, highly stressed raptor, we don’t have any success with them when we rehab them they just stress out and they die,” said Belvedere. “If this one is going to survive we will know shortly, today’s Friday and the other one only lasted two days.”
According to Donna Core, Osoyoos executive assistant and communications coordinator, not surprisingly those who have been watching the webcam were upset at the death of the first chick. Views on Thursday alone reached over 1,300.
READ MORE: Osprey camera goes live in the South Okanagan
“But that’s mother nature, we can’t predict what’s going to happen, we do not get involved,” she said Friday. “This is just more of an educational tool that we as a town just maintain the camera in conjunction with FortisBC.”
READ MORE: Osprey nest webcam goes live in South Okanagan
The webcam went live on YouTube at the end of March and the town’s website documents the history since then along with detailed information about the species.
The website is: https://www.osoyoos.ca/content/osprey-nest-live-webcam
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Mark Brett | Reporter
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