We have a lot of birds of prey nesting on the island right now; everywhere you look there is something exciting going on!
Eagles Nesting 2021
Our eagles hatched two chicks starting on February 2: we’ve done a series of video updates on this nest. Here is the readers digest version (quick nature walks with one minute updates) of the eagle nest.
Great Horned Owls
A pair of great horned owls has nested again in a window box, raising one youngster. We’ve seen and heard the owls all over the island at all hours: our dog hates them and howls when they hoot, so we are always aware they are around. Here are some photos of great horned owls from a previous year:
Screech Owls
Screech owls are cavity nesters, and they are establishing nest locations in specific boxes. We’ve just put one up at our house, and we’re hoping one takes up residence.
Osprey
We’ve had a long time resident say that the Ospreys return to nest about Valentines Day, and we were delighted (and a little surprised) to find them building a nest where we have a live cam set up. We’ve long thought that the Osprey stopped nesting on the impoundment once the Eagles arrived and began to defend their territory. Last year, the Eagle chick did not survive longer than a day, and I assumed that this was why they tolerated the Osprey pair on the pole that they use for dining and other romantic endeavors. So we’ll see how this goes this year: we have seen a Great Horned Owl checking out their handiwork on the live camera, (see below) and every day they are building the nest bigger and lining it with soft grass.
They are also (ahem) getting ready to lay eggs, so if you don’t want to explain the birds and the bees, be prepared to scroll through the footage. The internet out here can be a little hiccup-py: feel free to text me if you see the camera is offline. To find it again, look for links at the top of the page or search Dewees Island live Osprey Cam and the channel should pop back up.
