SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Osprey Cam

The osprey, like most day active hunters, relies mostly on sight to hunt. Osprey do not hunt at night, but rather are “diurnal hunters” like eagles, hawks, and falcons. Osprey differ from the other raptors in that they have a dislocatable shoulder, reversible toes, underwater vision, waterproof feathers, and velcro-like pads on their feet. Their most unique feature is their ability to put their feet where their vision initially saw the fish underwater. The osprey dives feet-first into the water at speeds over 30 miles per hour!
Ospreys are unique birds of prey in that they are the only raptor to eat exclusively fish. They are found on five continents worldwide and four subspecies exist. In North Idaho they have one of the largest osprey breeding populations west of the Rockies, thanks to their shallow lakes and ample fishing opportunities.
As with all birds of prey, the females are often larger than the males – some females have wingspans approaching five feet, and weigh up to four pounds; males weigh in at two pounds. They have a characteristic black stripe through the eye and have charcoal and white feathers. In youth the eye is orange, in adulthood it becomes yellow. Ospreys mature after two years of age.
Both the female and male share the brooding
http://www.sandpointonline.com/ospreys/