It's been a dramatic two weeks for Rachel and Steve's family. Early last week a Great Horned Owl attacked in the middle of the night and took a chick from the Osprey couple's nest at 探花精选's Hog Island in Maine. Then, a few nights later, it returned for seconds. Even for a nest cam that has captured its share of nest attacks and historic moments, this has been an especially eventful 12 days.
Since the attacks, viewers of the cam, which is hosted by have been anxiously watching to see if the owl would strike again and Rachel would be able to protect the lone remaining chick (as noted in our story about the first attack, male Ospreys don't usually defend their nests at night). In response to the attacks, Rachel has stuck closer to the nest, and that paid off last night when presumably the same Great Horned Owl returned for round three. This time, though, Rachel was ready.
As can be seen in the video above, the clip opens up almost right away with an attempted attack that Rachel manages to thwart. Then, at the 2:57 mark, the Great Horned Owl appears in the background, landing in the bough of an evergreen to survey the situation. After a full minute, it takes wing again, disappearing from view. Rachel, who is sitting on the edge of the nest, clearly spots the bird, though, as she begins loudly emitting her warning calls. The owl swoops in anyway and attempts to land on a large limb sticking out from the nest, only to be chased away. Undeterred, the owl returns again at 5:45 for one more attempt. But Rachel digs her talons into its back and once again defends the nest. It's not clear if the chick was harmed during the attacks, but it at least got to survive to see another Hog Island sunrise.
While it's been captivating to watch this saga play out, Rachel's adaptations to the attacks are illuminating in an evolutionary and biological sense. We once again asked Steve Kress, who works on Hog Island and is 探花精选's vice president of conservation and director of seabird restoration program, for his thoughts on this latest news. Here's what he wrote back in an email: