Osprey - Montana / Missoula (? & ?)

[GCG]

There were 3 eggs in this nest, but sadly, this news was shown on the site, with video.

 "A Common Raven discovered the unguarded Hellgate Osprey nest on the evening of May 26, and the bird swiftly removed all three eggs while Iris was away from the nest". 

[GCG]

The Hellgate, Missoula Montana Iris, their resident female has returned for another season. This was posted on their Facebook page.

"Woo hoo!!  Iris returned to her Hellgate nest this morning!  She is looking very good, albeit a bit tired perhaps.  But since she probably just flew a couple of thousand miles to get back her, she deserves a good nap or too!
Buckle your seatbelts - never a dull moment when Iris gets back!
Cheers, Erick Greene"
The watch is on for her mate.

 https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/hellgate-ospreys/

[GCG]

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/hellgate-ospreys/

 "Iris, the matriarch of the Hellgate Osprey nest and one of the oldest-known Ospreys in the world, has returned on April 5th, for the 2020 breeding season!"
This nest remains from year to year and upon return of the Osprey, the nest is replenished. Thus far,  the male has not been seen, but all in due time.

[GCG]

The camera action has been nothing short of exciting as allikat and I have observed. This was also posted on FB......

Montana Osprey Cams

Hi all,

I want to give a shout out to our intrepid camera operators!! We are very lucky to have about half a dozen volunteers who help operate the camera. They are located as far away as England and all across the US. They divide up the day and take turns operating the cameras, and with their Osprey eyes, make very important observations and swivel and zoom the camera around. There are also a whole bunch of other people who help tweet and post information about what is going on.

So THANKS folks!!!!
Erick Greene

[GCG]

Montana Osprey Cam posted on FB the following...........................

Hi all,

It sure has been a busy, confusing, perplexing and exciting few days at the Hellgate nest! This is our last week of classes at the University of Montana, with exam week next week, so we have all been really busy here and running on fumes! But I will be able to start posting more regularly now.

Iris has quickly bonded with the new male, and she just laid another egg at about 1645 h today (Thursday, 5 May). Since she and the new male have been copulating a lot the last few days, this egg will undoubtedly have been fertilized by him.

I know that a lot of you are wanting to name this new male, and I have been getting lots of suggestions. I am considering a very special name for him, but I need to check with some people first. I hope to have more information on this soon. Please be patient on this - thanks!!

Still no sign of Stanley, but he has always arrived 2-3 weeks later than Iris. So there is still a possibility that he may show up!!! If this happens, we have no idea what will happen?? Will he fight with the new male? Will the new male fight off Stanley now that he has an egg in the game? Would Iris accept Stanley back?? These are all things that we do not know. We are learning so much about basic osprey behavior and the intimate details of their lives from this camera!

Stay tuned,
Erick Greene

[allikat]

There has been no sightings of Stanley, but Iris has found herself a new mate and they have 3 eggs!
One of the eggs however, could be non-fertile, we don't know as there was some hanky-panky with another osprey prior to Iris laying that egg.
The other two eggs were after the arrival of the new male Osprey - and even those eggs are questionable as this new young male was a little, let's say... rusty.  Only time will tell! 

[GCG]

Although Stanley has yet to return, Iris defends her egg from an intruder in this video from their web site. Some aerial displays leaves me in awe of these birds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFLG0Jb-kSM

[susha]

Of course if Stanley isn't coming back, then Iris would be wanting to find another partner, as much as we'd most certainly miss Stanley .  The troublesome thing is that apparently Midas hasn't been seen to be bringing food to Iris and she might have to feed herself.  It's still early days yet...

[GCG]

Oh no!. I have been watching daily and was waiting patiently for Stanley to return. The latest update says this could (?) be next week because of all the horrific storms in the south. An egg? This could be why Iris has been building up her (Trump) walls.

Iris and Stanley have been the returning osprey at this site for a number of years.

http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/27/Hellgate_Ospreys/

[susha]

The resident female of this nest seemed to be waiting patiently for the arrival of the resident male (Stanley), while fending off the advances of an intruding male.  Iris, however, had a dirty little secret, and it revealed itself when she laid an egg today   It's believed that the "intruding" male is Midas, who has a mate a few miles away.  If Stanley returns, he'll dispose of the egg and he and Iris will start over.

It's always the kids that pay the price

[Kinderchick]

Sorry to hear this sad news. 

[GCG]

2015 has not been a good year for raptors. There were two osprey nests in Montana. The eggs were damaged in Hellgate when a horrific hailstorm damaged the eggs just prior to them hatching. 
Now a post on FB about the chick from this nest. The single chick fell from the nest and did not survive. 

"Today we have the most unfortunate news. We are very sad to report that the chick has fallen out of the nest and has not survived. The second egg that had not hatched has also fallen from the nest. We do not know what happened. We will share any news we receive with you. Rest in peace baby osprey"

[GCG]

The first hatch from this nest last night.


https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/s480x480/11403411_783651058399728_9015771326539943315_n.png?oh=faf5e0ed8e7b14231101cd6ba22628e8&oe=56229B37

[GCG]

No chicks yet. Parents are building up their nest. The expected high temps today are 39C or 102 F. And we think we are hot!

[GCG]

Another osprey nest in Montana. Let's hope this nest is not destroyed by intense hail. Mother is sitting on eggs. Not sure how many yet.

http://montanaospreycam.com/