Hancock Wildlife Foundation

Iris is looking fantastic. Have you noticed how much "fuller" she looks after migration than later in the season? I got chills when I saw she was back at first, borderline tears, but happy ones. It's hard to imagine the long migration she does and then voila, Iris!

Iris you warm our hearts,
which in my humble opinion, is a
very good start to a new year.....

carolyn

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3 , 2019

Good Morning Hellgate Osprey and everyone !

Weather Report 8:38a
Quiet on the empty nest
I checked the DVR on both cams and no sign of Iris so far this morning !

Reminder when posting videos please give credit to the person or from (Hellgate Osprey) that did it and if we are posting from what we see on the cam chat .. the same thing applies .... like "I read this on the cam chat.."

Hellgate Canyon Ospreys ~ Iris' 2nd Touchdown At Her Nest, April 03, 2019 with thanks to LawLin 72


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

Scaps from the video
10:02a

10:02:21 AM

Thanks Ferenz

3:28pm
Quiet at the empty nest As far as I know Iris hasn't been back since this morning!

7:55p
Daylight is fading on the empty nest

Goodnight Iris and everyone !

Thank you Bev, Carolyn and Ferenz. Hope Louis arrives soon .

Iris is most likely off eating and filling up after migration, she has time to be on the nest for sure.

As for Louis, Heather, he will be back, no sooner than he arrives.
carolyn
Have a Happy Day....it's our anniversary.

THURSDAY, APRIL 4 , 2019

Good Morning Hellgate , Carolyn, Heather , Ferenz and everyone ! Keeping good thoughts that Louis will arrive soon!

Happy Wedding Anniversary Carolyn to you and Bill ~

Weather Report 5:30a
Dark at the empty nest

From Face Book with thanks to Eric Greene

April 2 at 10:38 AM

Woo hoo!! Iris returned to the Hellgate nest at 9:52 AM on 2 April! No doubt about it - look at those speckled irises. She is looking hale and hearty! Also her behavior is that of a very confident, returning bird. This is her nest, and she knows it.
She is an amazing bird - probably about 24 years old at least. This will be her 12th breeding season at this nest since this nest pole was put up. Before that, she nested for at least 10 years on the power poles where the very scary fake owl sits. And Ospreys generally don't start breeding until they are 3-5 years old. So that gives an estimate of 24 years. This makes Iris one of the oldest known Ospreys in the world.
She looks in great shape, and all ready to go for another season. Now just hoping that Louis survived the winter.
Best, Erick Greene

6:48a
Daylight is breaking on the empty nest ADDED
8:06a
Zoomer is panning the area No sign of Iris so far this morning ~

BBL

Thank you Bev, Did a quick check on dvr , quiet at nest .

Woodlands Bleu wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 04, 2019 4:25 am

Iris is most likely off eating and filling up after migration, she has time to be on the nest for sure.

As for Louis, Heather, he will be back, no sooner than he arrives.
carolyn
Have a Happy Day....it's our anniversary.

Thank you Carolyn and Happy Anniversary!!!

Thank you Heather!

Waiting for the ospreys......
carolyn

3:08p
Checking in here and nest is empty I checked the cam chat and I didn't see any mention of Iris being on the nest today but I could have missed it !

From FaceBook
March 24 at 7:44 PM ·
Hello everyone!
Osprey season is just around the corner, and we wanted to give you an update on what we have been doing in preparation.
Charles Eldermire (director of Cornell Lab of Ornithology's bird camera program) was here all last week. It was great that Charles was here for so long, because we had a bunch of technical glitches, and he is a grand master at figuring out stuff like that! Dale Beavers of Garden City Tree Service provided his trusty bucket truck and years of expertise of working with us at Osprey nests. We were finally able to get up a new IR Illuminator, so we can watch the nest at night. (The old one got fried in a power surge, and we did not want to replace it during the breeding season because we would disturb Iris, Louis and L'el'e). We also put in a brand new camera, that can focus closer than the last one. So now we will be able to zoom in all the way and focus on eggs and chicks. What a concept!!
I have attached some photos to give you an idea of the camera upgrade operation.
We are all hoping that Iris and Louis both survived the winter. If they did, they should be back soon!
Best, Erick Greene

CK FB for the Photos and scroll down !
https://www.facebook.com/Montana-Osprey ... 613556909/