Hellgate Canyon MT Osprey Cam - 2023

[JudyB]

Creating this here before swapping it for the one Bev started, which she is having trouble accessing.

Welcome to the 2023 Season at the Hellgate Canyon Osprey Nest

Big thanks to Bev/IrishEyes for setting up this thread in previous years, and the great coverage she and her team provided here! Our recent forum software issues have made it more difficult for her to set up the thread this year, so I'm doing it this time.

This nest is in the Mountain Time Zone

Link to the Cam - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/hellgate-ospreys/ (no chat)

This Osprey nest is at the mouth of the spectacular Hellgate Canyon at the edge of Missoula, Montana. It’s in a very busy location, right outside the Riverside Health Care Center and next to busy parking lots, a construction site, a busy highway, and a railroad. However, it’s also an ideal location in many ways, since these Ospreys have riverfront property only about 50 feet from the Clark Fork River. Being so close to people does not bother them, and hundreds of people enjoy watching them every day.




This is Iris .. the Queen of this nest .. she is one of oldest Osprey in the world.

S'cap courtesy of Heather L

The female Osprey at this nest is called Iris because she has very distinctive spots on her iris, especially in her left eye. These iris patterns serve as individual barcodes and allow us to identify her. She has nested at this site for many years. Her mate of many years, Stanley, did not return in 2016, and she attempted to breed with a new male dubbed "Louis" after an influential local Salish elder named Louis Adams.

[JudyB]

2023 Season:

• cam on: the cam streams all year
• adults return: April 8 ''Iris is back
• eggs laid: Three eggs All Stolen
• last seen:

[JudyB]

Other Useful Links:

Public Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Montana-Osprey ... 613556909/

Local Weather: https://www.theweathernetwork.com/us/we ... a/missoula

Link to the 2022 Thread: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=609

[JudyB]

About Osprey

Ospreys are consummate fishing birds, and this pair fishes primarily from the Clark Fork River and nearby Rattlesnake Creek. They use their 6–7 foot wingspans to soar above the water, looking for fish, then diving as deep as 3 feet for shallow-swimming prey. Adult Ospreys usually weigh 3–4 pounds, and they can carry prey up to 50 percent of their own weight. Ospreys can live up to 25 years, and they typically lay 1–4 eggs in a clutch.

Incubation period for eggs is 35-42 days.

Chicks generally fledge between 53 and 60 days. The female frequently leaves not long after the last chick fledges - females do the majority of the incubation and brooding, and stay near the nest until the chicks fledge, so they need some time to eat and regain their muscle strength for flying before they migrate. The males usually stay nearby and continue feeding the fledglings until they migrate; they don't exactly teach the youngsters how to catch fish, but demonstrate the process while the fledglings follow them around for up to a month or sometimes a bit more.

Osprey pairs engage in several forms of behavior that appear similar (one of them, usually the male, lands on the back of the other) but serve different purposes. When they first return from migration (and at other times during the year), you will see them do this as a way of confirming their bond with each other. As it gets near time for eggs, the female will raise her tail so they can connect and transfer the sperm to fertilize the eggs she is producing. The female will occasionally jump onto the back of the male, generally to assert dominance and remind him that she's the boss of the nest. (I also wonder if she's reminding him to watch his talons - I'm not an osprey, but I'd think it would be hard to balance without using the talons to hold on - which he cannot do without risk of hurting her.) The male may also quickly land on the female to show that she has a partner if there is another male osprey showing a bit too much interest in their territory and her.


A Bit of History

The nest used to be on a power pole about 200 feet west of where it is now. This was dangerous, since the Ospreys could have been electrocuted, causing fires and power blackouts. In 2007, the current nest platform was erected to provide a safer place for the Ospreys to nest. They took to it immediately. Getting the new nest platform set up, and installing and running to high resolution camera for this feed for you to enjoy has been a large effort involving many groups: Riverside Health Care Center, Karen Wagner, Kate Davis and Raptors of the Rockies, Northwestern Energy, Dave Taylor Roofing Company, and Dr. Erick Greene of the University of Montana.

[JudyB]

Reserved

[JudyB]

Reserved

[JudyB]

Reserved

[JudyB]

Hi everyone!

There was a post on the Montana Osprey Cams facebook page reporting that Star, the female from the nest a mile down the river, returned on April 2nd, and noting that Iris is generally about a week later returning than Star - so if all goes well, Iris may be back in the next few days!

From earlier today - not an osprey, but it looks as if a smaller bird may be taking up residence in the lower part of the nest.

The thread is now open and waiting for the osprey to return.

[IrishEyes]

Thank you Judy

[Heather L]

Iris flew in over parking lot from the West 1:48 pm

Landed

Soft chirps

[Heather L]

Thank you Judy

Hi Bev , Iris has arrived 1:48 pm

[Heather L]

Moved a stick

Wind blowing her head feathers 1:49 pm

[Heather L]

Iris nudged stick more chirping 1:50 pm

Iris flew off

[Heather L]

She did not fly to the Owl Pole

Iris has not returned 2:18 pm

[IrishEyes]

ThankYou Heather.. Happy Iris is back