Tag Archives: Chesapeake bay

OSPREY, The Migratory Piscivore

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OSPREY, the Migratory Piscivore

Dr. James J. S. Johnson

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Genesis 8:22

Migrating birds remind me of what God said in Genesis 8:22, about the predictability of annual seasons. It’s really amazing if you think much about it: God selected Moses to report a conversation that God once had with Noah, at the conclusion of the worldwide Flood. In that conversation God promised Noah (and Noah’s family and descendants, which include all of us) that God would not send another global deluge.

OSPREY MIGRATION (The Cornell Lab map, Laura Erickson photo credit)

Rather, day-night periods would continue with constant periodicity, plus weather patterns would be stabilized with predictable patterns, such as the cyclical seasons we know as summer, autumn, winter, and springtime. God’s creatures depend on day-night cycles, as well as on annual cycles–such as the 4 seasons which provide predictability to growing and harvesting food crops (Genesis 8:22, quoted above).

But not only do humans depend upon such phenology patterns, so do animals–especially migratory animals, such as many insects and birds. One such migratory bird is the OSPREY (Pandion haliaetus), also known as the Fish Hawk.

OSPREY (Free Photos and Images photo credit)

Although not all ospreys migrate, most do, according to Donald & Lillian Stokes, A GUIDE TO BIRD BEHAVIOR, volume III (Boston: Little Brown & Company,1989 ), pages 169-170. In fact, most ospreys of North America–such as those of the Chesapeake Bay region–are known for over-wintering in or near South America, regularly returning to North American ranges during spring:

The warmer temperatures have brought with them a familiar Chesapeake icon. Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) occur in nearly every corner of the globe, but nowhere as abundantly as on the Chesapeake Bay.

Ospreys return to the Chesapeake every spring from southern wintering grounds. Their abundance in the Bay region is due to the availability of food: They feed exclusively on live fish.

Their curved, sharp talons and rough-soled feet are designed to hold on to slippery fish.

Large brown and white birds of prey, they’re about 2 feet long with wing spans of 4-5 feet. When in flight, their long, narrow wings take on the shape of an outstretched M.

Ospreys hunt by soaring over water, periodically hovering on beating wings to scan the surface for schooling or spawning fish. Upon sight of its prey, the osprey makes a spectacular dive. Folding its wings tightly, it descends swiftly and plunges feet first into the water, often submerging itself completely. Another technique is a shallow scoop for fish at the water’s surface.

In addition to food, the Chesapeake provides many favorable nesting areas over the water such as duck blinds, navigation markers or man-made nesting platforms. Offshore structures offer protection from predators like raccoons, and rapid detection and escape from danger. On land, ospreys may nest on high trees and utility poles.

Ospreys 3 years or older usually mate for life, and will use the same nest site year after year A recently reunited pair will begin the task of nest building or repair.

Kathy Reshetiloff, “Chesapeake’s Ospreys Mark Return of Spring”, CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL (June 19th, A.D.2020).
OSPREY (PublicDomainPictures.net photo credit)

Thanks for that report, Kathy Reshetiloff–that report that repeatedly fits the return of spring. This year (A.D.2022) is no exception, according to a short report in the CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL:

Standing watch over a channel marker, soaring above the water, effortlessly snatching a fish — ospreys are among the most recognizable bird species in the Chesapeake Bay region. And they have begun their annual springtime return from South America.

Staff writer, “A Sign of Spring: The Return of the Chesapeake’s Ospreys”, CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL, 32(2):3 (April 2022).

The Osprey is a daytime-hunting raptor, like others hawks and eagles, seizing its prey after a successful chase. And for the Osprey, that hapless prey is most likely fish of some kind–more than 99% of the Osprey’s diet is some kind of fish!

OSPREY (PublicDomainPictures.net photo credit)

However, according to the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology website “Animal Diversity Web” [ AnimalDiversity.org entry for Pandion haliaetus ], an extra-hungry Osprey might catch and consume rodents (mice, rats, voles, squirrels), lagomorphs (rabbits, hares, pikas), small birds, salamanders, snakes, juvenile alligator, or even carrion (e.g., dead opossum, deer carcass). But those are rare dietary choices for an Osprey, because they have earned their common nickname, “Fish Hawk”.

Ospreys are not bashful about seizing fish prey, whether those prey are near the water’s surface or whether such prey is well below the water’s surface.

[The Osprey] is the only raptor that plunges into water feet first to catch fish. Can hover for a few seconds before diving. Carries fish in a head-first position for better aerodynamics [for post-catch flying]. Often harassed by Bald Eagles for its catch.

Stan Tekiela, BIRDS OF TEXAS FIELD GUIDE (Adventures Publications, 2004), page 79.

Hmm. that last “kleptoparasitism” fact–about eagles robbing ospreys of caught fish–where did I read about that recently? Oh yeah, I saw something about that on the best birdwatching blog in the world, LEESBIRD.COM — https://leesbird.com/2022/05/17/a-fisherman-robbed-chapter-20/ .

Kleptoparasitic Eagle chasing Osprey with fish (CenteroftheWest.org photo credit)

It pays to be a regular reader of LEESBIRD.COM ! — thanks, Mrs. Lee Dusing, for the ongoing blessing your birding blog has been, for years, is now, and continues (God willing) to be. (And thanks also for your sterling service as an Adjunct Professor to ICR’s School of Biblical Apologetics, over the past few years.) But mostly, thanks for honoring the Lord Jesus Christ, (our Creator-Redeemer) and for continually blessing birdwatchers, like me, with the wonderful service that LEESBIRD.COM provides. : )

OSPREY featured on heraldic Coat-of-arms of Sääksmäki, Western Finland (public domain)

The Eagle has Landed, in Fact Many of Them!

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The Eagle has Landed, in Fact Many of Them!

Eagles have Repopulated the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Range

Dr. James J. S. Johnson

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good [things; so that] thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:5)

BaldEagle-SanDiegoZoo

Bald Eagle – San Diego Zoo

God satisfies our real needs, from time to time, from season to season, just as He sustains the ongoing needs of the eagle. Recovering strength is good for an individual–and also for a population, including eagle populations.

Recovering from a “ghost town” shutdown is worth the effort.  Ask a Bald Eagle.

Whitney Pipkin recently reported, in the Chesapeake Bay Journal , that Bald Eagles have made a comeback along Virginia’s James River.(1),(2)

This avian population illustrates how a pessimistic situation can, if the right actions are taken, be reversed—eventually producing a happier result.

First, the bad news:

In the late 1970s, the treetops of the James River looked like a ghost town. Despite plenty of suitable habitat where bald eagles could have been nesting and had before, the waterway was the only major tributary in the Chesapeake Bay whose nesting population of the iconic American predator had plummeted to zero.(1)

Now, the good news:

Imagine biologists’ surprise when, four decades later, that same river became the staging ground for the eagles’ astonishing comeback. Aerial surveys tallied more than 300 breeding pairs of [bald] eagles along the James River for the first time in 2019—a number that had been the species’ recovery goal for the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed.(1)

When it comes to the Chesapeake Bay, the majestic bald eagle has come back from the dead. Driven from historic nesting strongholds like the James River by pesticides in the 1970s, the national bird has become a success story.(2)

BaldEagles-BirdWatchingHQ

3 Bald Eagles – Bird Watching HQ

Furthermore, the big-picture news is even better:

Biologists estimate there are now close to 3,000 nesting pairs Baywide [i.e., in the Chesapeake Bay watershed], but surveys of the entire region no longer occur annually. Maryland stopped surveying bald eagles in 2004 when they hit nearly 400 breeding pairs statewide, surpassing population goals.(1)

Moreover, it’s not just eagles that are flourishing in the Chesapeake Bay area:

“We are just in an amazing time right now,” said Bryan Watts, co-founder and director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary. … Not just bald eagles, but fish-eaters like osprey and blue heron also once died out on the James.

Today, [these riparian fish-eating birds—like eagles, ospreys, and herons—have ] swelled to numbers Watts believes are well above what even Capt. John Smith encountered on the cusp of the 17th century. “In terms of eagles,” said Watts, “we are protecting them. We’re not shooting them like we did in the late 1800s and early 1900s. We don’t consider them competitors for muskrats or for fish, and so we’re not killing them.”(2)

For conservationists, birdwatchers, and other wildlife enthusiasts, these large-scale recoveries are very good news. After all, eagles are America’s official bird.

Beyond that, eagles are amazing creatures that display God’s genius in bioengineering.(3)

One example of highness being compared to the nesting habits of eagles is found in the Bible, in the Book of Obadiah 1:3-4, where the eagle is described as a creature that lives in high places, much closer to the stars than do most other animals (or people). Another Old Testament book in the Bible, the Book of Job, refers (at 39:13) to the eagle as mounting up into the air by God’s command (because God programs eagles to fly up into the air the way that they do), and as nesting in high places (because God programs eagles to do this also).

Eagles are good parents, training their sons and daughters to live like eagles (see Deuteronomy 32:11). Eagles can fly, like dive-bombing airplanes, at great speeds (see 2nd Samuel 1:23 and Lamentations 4:19). Their strength is renewed from time to time, as their feather-cover adjusts to their growing bodies (see Isaiah 40:31 and Psalms 103:5). Eagles are known for their gracefulness and dignity (see Proverbs 30:19). In fact, eagles fly very high in the air as a matter of habit – above most other birds (see Proverbs 23:5).(4)

Meanwhile, the Bald Eagles’ recovery—in the Chesapeake Bay area–illustrates how a bad situation can be overcome, with the prioritized concern and problem-solving management practices, plus patience.

But this is not the first time that an endangered or threatened wild bird (or other wildlife category) has been rescued from the brink of population failure. Consider the amazing recovery of the Trumpeter Swan, which nearly sang its own swan song.(5)

Likewise, Tri-colored Herons (also called “Louisiana Herons”) have recently reclaimed (and repopulated) ranges that previously they had lost.(6)

It’s not just the birds. American bison have made a comeback.(7) The list goes on, but the list could be longer than what it is.

Wildlife populations often face critical perils, sometimes facing population failure, range contraction, or habitat loss. Sometimes they recover.(1),(2),(5),(6)

The same is true for humans. For example, it is well worth praying for America to recover from its many political (socialism-pushing) problems in the wake of pandemic perils and propaganda.(8)

Problematic situations, including disasters, don’t fix themselves—real solutions (to real problems) don’t accidentally “evolve”. There is much good work needed, to recover lost ground in America. Human responsibility is the key to much of what is needed; yet God’s providential blessings are needed even more, much more.(8)

So we need to pray fervently for God’s blessings, daily—not just on the National Day of Prayer.(8)

References   

  1. Pipkin, W. 2020. Bald Eagles’ Recovery Along James River Soars to New Heights: Area’s 300 Breeding Pairs Surpass Goal for Entire Chesapeake Watershed. Chesapeake Bay Journal. 30(3):17-18.
  2. Dietrich, T. 2019. Bald Eagles Enter ‘Golden Age’ in Chesapeake Bay. Daily Press. Posted (July 9, 2019) on DailyPress.com at http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nws-bald-eagles-recovery-20190709-story.html (accessed May 9, 2020).
  3. Eggleton, M. 2016. The American Bald Eagle: On Eagle’s Wings. 38(2):34-37, posted at https://creation.com/on-eagles-wings . See also Johnson, J. J. S. 2018. Hawks and Eagles Launching Skyward. Acts & Facts, 47(4):21, posted at https://www.icr.org/article/hawks-eagles-launching-skyward .
  4. Johnson, J. J. S. 2008. Alaska’s Coastal Rainforests and Two of its Rangers, the Bald Eagle and the Alaska Moose. Dallas: NWD Press/RCCL’s Radiance of the Seas (July 2008), pages 10-11.
  5. Johnson, J. J. S. 2020. Post-Coronavirus Comeback or Swan’s Song? Creation Science Update. Posted (April 23, 2020) at https://www.icr.org/article/post-coronavirus-comeback-or-swans-song .
  6. Johnson, J. J. S. 2019. Does Global Warming Threaten Bird Habitats? Acts & Facts. 48(6):21, posted at https://www.icr.org/article/does-global-warming-threaten-bird-habitats .
  7. Whitaker Jr., J. O. 1998. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals, revised edition. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 850-854, Plates # 329-333.
  8. James 5:16; 1 Timothy 2:1-3. See also Johnson, J. J. S. 2020. Prayers for America and our Divine Editor. ICR News. Posted (May 7, 2020) at https://www.icr.org/article/prayers-for-america-and-our-divine-editor .