Why There Are No Ospreys at the Hog Island Nest Cam

The Great Horned Owl didn't come back, but another intruder caused Rachel, Steve, and their surviving chick to move in a hurry: wasps.

Baby Bailey, the last remaining Osprey chick of Hog Island nest-cam stars Rachel and Steve, just can鈥檛 seem to catch a break.

After being tormented by a predatory Great Horned Owl twice in the, the family needed some time to rest and recoup. But a smaller winged intruder recently took up residence very close to home. Recently, sharp-eyed viewers of the from Hog Island, Maine, discovered that wasps had built their colony right in the Ospreys鈥 nest. On Saturday, the stinging horde grew too much for the two-month-old Bailey. In the clip above, the chick whips its head and scratches at its face as it's surrounded by insects. Finally, around 2:38, it leaps off the platform, plunging 35 feet down to the ground and out of sight of the camera. The bird was found unharmed: It was able to break its fall by using its wings鈥攁 skill that many growing avians share.

Bailey's daring dive was just the start of an eventful weekend. As the vulnerable chick flopped around, it by Eric Snyder, Hog Island facilities manager and seasoned raptor rescuer, toa second nesting site on the mainland. Snyder built the alternate 鈥渂oathouse platform鈥 last year to create a local Osprey network that could help Rachel and Steve defend against Bald Eagle attacks. Another pair nested there earlier this season, but they went M.I.A. after their sole egg failed to hatch. Relocating Bailey to the boathouse would keep the bird close enough for Rachel and Steve to find and feed it, Snyder says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 evidence that moving a chick鈥攐r even an egg鈥攗p to a quarter mile away will still allow the parents to attend to it.鈥

Turns out, though, the platform wasn鈥檛 quite so abandoned; a female Osprey began threatening the chick as soon as it settled in. So Snyder decided to build the young bird a place of its own, about 90 feet away from its original home. It took Snyder and his fellow staffers an hour to assemble slats of wood and sticks to create a brand new nest on the island. The same evening he scaled the boathouse to retrieve Bailey for yet another change of venue鈥攐ne that doesn't currently have a camera trained on it.

While the young raptor may be old enough to jump ship, it needs a platform until it鈥檚 ready to fend for itself completely. Ospreys prefer to land on elevated snags and limbs, so chicks have to stay put as long as their parents are feeding them. Even when they鈥檙e close to fledging 鈥渋t takes a while for these birds to exercise their wings and take off,鈥 Snyder says. Once they do, it requires a few more weeks for them to learn how to fish. Until then they continue living off of mom and dad.

Despite all this drama, Bailey is expected to start flying soon, though the timeline could be delayed given all the bird has faced. Whenever it does finally get off the new nest, live-cam viewers should be treated to regular visits again. Roving fledglings typically come back to their first home, Snyder says. For now, however, people can enjoy fantastic scenes of Hog Island and its wild waterfront. And who knows, maybe a far-adrift guest, , will drop by to fill the spotlight.

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