>We have been privileged this year to watch an osprey family build a 
>nest and successfully fledge one offspring right across the creek 
>(part of the Bodkin) from our yard.  (We know this is their first 
>because last year their late nest building attempts were laughably 
>unsteady and unsuccessful.)  The parents left two weeks ago, but 
>baby is still whining - morning, afternoon, evening, and even from 
>time to time in the middle of the night.  He or she seems to be 
>successfully feeding but mightily unhappy and loud about it.  Is 
>this common?
>
>Kathy Isaacs


I know waaaay to much about ospreys, but I can help you with that.

The female leaves shortly after the chicks fledge which is generally 
in mid-July.  She's done her job of brooding so she's usually gone in 
early to mid-August.  The male's job is to teach the chicks how to 
fish so he sticks around for another month while the kids act like 
normal adolescents - making a lot of commotion and often visiting the 
nests of other juvies.  During this time he will continue to feed 
them but will taper off on the fish deliveries to keep the pressure 
on them to get on the fishing ball otherwise they will never survive 
migration.

There are reports of a few osprey dads who have been known to linger 
through most of September with a slow-learning chick, but generally 
they are headed south as soon as their migratory alarm clock goes off 
soon after Labor Day.

Some chicks make the self sufficiency adjustment better than others. 
Some really suffer from separation anxiety which I suspect is 
probably the case since it was a single chicks.  There are no other 
siblings around for company.  It will sit there and belly ache with 
its incessant fish cries, especially if it sees anyone with a fish 
that it hopes will fly by and drop it off.  If you haven't seen the 
male in two weeks, that's either the sign of some really 
inexperienced birds and he's left a little early, or something may 
have happened to him.  Either way, the juvie is on its own and will 
eventually figure things out. Either that or you won't get too much 
peace and quiet for a while ;-P

-- 
Melanie Lynch
President, Annapolis Chapter
Ospreyholics Anonymous