You'll be happy to know after last year's failed nest, eagle pair Rick and Ilsa appear to have eggs in their new nest.
Visit Marc Lausier's photo stream on Flickr.
Date of Photograph
Marc notes that he has been photographing an Osprey pair nesting in South Portland since they arrived in Maine mid-April.
They raised two youngsters…one male, one female.
This is a photo of the juvenile male and in the next week or soon he will instinctively begin his migratory journey to South America possibly as far as the Amazon Basin of Brazil.
Unfortunately the chance of survival on a first migration is only 20-30%.
For more photos visit Marc Lausier's photo stream on Flickr.
Date of Photograph
Since the adult osprey arrived mid-April, I've been patiently waiting to capture a flight of the young away from the nest…it will happen soon!
Visit Marc Lausier's photo stream on Flickr.
South Portland's ospreys Oscar and Odette (on the left) have youngsters in the nest which I've yet to see, but I can tell they are there by the birds behavior.
"Oscar & Odette, can I get a side-by-side photo of you as the proud parents."
Odette likes the camera, Oscar not so much.
Visit Marc Lausier's photo stream on Flickr.
Here's a close up of osprey talons…the most versatile raptor feet in the world!
Visit Marc Lausier's photo stream on Flickr.
As a result of the damage to their nest after the April rainstorm, a new home is being constructed nearby and this photo shows work is in progress.
Visit Marc Lausier's photo stream on Flickr.
Today I found Ilsa on a favorite dead tree perch which was chosen no doubt because it provides an unobstructed 360 degree view her territory.
Visit Marc Lausiers photo stream on Flickr
Ospreys and Eagles have the same number of tail feathers which I determined by my photos then verified.
Despite the often-repeated myth about the Morgan dollar, the bald eagle does not have seven tail feathers. Nor does it have an odd number of tail feathers. It actually has 12 tail feathers.
See Marc Lausier's photo stream on Flickr.
Female osprey Odette always gives me the once-over when I take her photo, but she does not mind the camera and poses well!
For more osprey photos visit Marc Lausier's photo stream on Flickr
This is an intruder osprey attack on the South Portland nest of Oscar and Odette who are now incubating eggs. The full sequence can be seen on Marc Lausier's website
These are views of the eagle nest before and after the recent rainstorm.
I'm sad to say it's looking like Rick and Ilsa will not have any surviving eaglets in this my 7th year of photographing them.
Visit Marc Lausier's photo stream on Flickr. .
Date of Photograph
Rick brings home the bacon (Atlantic Herring?) which is a good sign there is a viable hatchling or 2 or 3!
By the end of April, I should be able to see some fuzzy gray heads above the rim of the nest.
For more photos see Marc Lausier's website.
It is a bright sunny day so I was eager to see what was going on at nest central.
Seconds after I got my camera set up, Ilsa took to the sky in very windy conditions.
I captured a sequence as she was soaring…this was the last shot.
If not the best photo I've taken of the eagles, this was no doubt the luckiest 'framed' by the foreground trees
.
And yes, this photograph will be framed!
For more photos of eagles - and other birds in the Scarborough area - see Marc Lausier's website.
The major source of food for our eagles is fish, however, they will also eat waterfowl and other birds which can be a source of flu - highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
It would wipe out the entire nest which can be a family of 5 eagles…a couple of years they've raised 3 eaglets.
Take a look at Marc Lausier's website for more photos.
Marc Lausier: "The most photographically important day of the year, is when I photo the season's eaglets.On April 22, 2022 I captured a series of photos when the eaglets appeared above the rim of the nest. Here the sole eaglet last year was being fed by Ilsa, but Rick also shares in that duty." For more of Marc Lausier's photos check out his website.
If female eagle Ilsa is incubating eggs, she is staying low in this approximately 20 mph wind. For more eagle photos visit Marc Lausier's website.