Drama In the Nest
Time to tune into Chesapeake Country’s favorite celebrity reality show.
Season three of the Chesapeake Conservancy’s popular Osprey Cam begins with drama and intrigue.
Audrey returned just before St. Patrick’s Day and quickly began building her nest. Day after day went by with no Tom.
Then, Audrey was visited by two callers. One looked like the Tom we know and love. The other was a new Tom, sporting mottled feathers. After days of sightings of both Toms, mottled Tom seems to have moved into the nest.
Osprey biologist Dr. Paul Spitzer says that new males may usurp old ones. Such behavior is not common, but it seems to be what happened in the latest season of the Tom and Audrey show.
No need to learn new names, however. On this show, the male will always be Tom and the female Audrey.
The new couple seems to be getting along just fine, as Audrey laid her first egg at 6:19pm on April 12.
Meanwhile, on the Conservancy’s Peregrine Falcon Cam, there was also trouble in paradise. Original Barb seems to have sustained an injury to her eye and has been usurped.
You can tell the female on the cam is a new one because the bands on her legs are different from those on the original.
Boh, the male, does not seem to be lamenting the loss of his first love. He has been seen bringing new Barb food.
The same day that Audrey laid her first egg of the season, Barb also laid her own small reddish-brown egg — 33 stories high on the TransAmeria building.
Already, differences can be seen in their nesting habits. Audrey began sitting on her egg right away. However, Barb will wait until she has laid her whole clutch before incubating them. These differences in parenting style mean that osprey chicks hatch in the order that they are born, with the oldest having the best chance of survival. Peregrine eggs are more likely to hatch at the same time.
Despite being laid on the same day, the osprey eggs require a longer incubation period than the peregrines’, 36 to 42 days compared to 29 to 35 days.
Osprey chicks also stay at the nest longer than peregrine eyases, as the chicks are called.
These mysteries and heart-felt moments are brought to you live, 24/7, and in high-definition by the Chesapeake Conservancy, an Annapolis-based non-profit.
Tune into the Osprey Cam at www.ospreycamera.org and the Peregrine Falcon Cam at http://chesapeakeconservancy.org/peregrine-falcon-webcam.