The first osprey streaming webcam was the DPOF one in 2003.
I started watching in June 2004 and life was forever different.
One of the most fascinating things which ever happened was the "mystery of the missing egg" in 2006.
Betty the female osprey laid eggs as follows:
1. April 14
2. April 17
3. April 20
4. April 23
Now on 1st May 2006 at 6.35am EST a very odd thing happened. Suddenly for no apparent reason Betty lifted one of the eggs and dropped it out of the nest. See this at egg destroyed
At about 1 minute 10 seconds of the video the egg is seen to fall outside the nest on the right.
Now this started off a great mystery as to which egg she destroyed and why she did so. I am not sure we ever got to answer for why she did so but by a variety techniques I think we eventually worked out which egg was dumped.
The 2006 season at DPOF was the most gripping ever in my experience in no small part to one of the eggs being dumped.
I hope to show over some time the evidence which allowed us to identify the missing egg and why it has such amazing consequences.
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Tiger Signature
Tiger you are so great at narrating stories and your words conjure up so many memories. Yes this dramatic episode was just the start of what was to turn into a most amazing year. A never to be forgotten year.
ChloeB & Tiger's Osprey Data
ChloeB said: Tiger you are so great at narrating stories and your words conjure up so many memories. Yes this dramatic episode was just the start of what was to turn into a most amazing year. A never to be forgotten year.
Gee whizz you are very kind :)
LOL can't wait for the next gripping eggisode :)
On 23rd May an egg hatched. Now since 39 days had elapsed since the first egg was laid it could easily have been egg 1. However it could equally be egg 2 hatching after 36 days.
There was a spirited debate on the Which egg Hatched Thread??
On 26th May another egg hatched and another heated debate ensued. A debate on So we lost the third egg?
Also See Did Chick #2 Hatch Then?
So there was not much agreement! :)
Next episode later.
On the 29th May 2006 the third egg hatched and speculation about the eggs went into overdrive. We were not to know that this chick was going to be one of the most adorable in history, later to be named Flag.
The mathematical approach was stretched to the limit but at last there was some agreement that it was actually egg #1 that was lost. See the thread entitled Melanie? The reaction of the some of the posters is so comical.
Two days later a new approach to finding out which egg was missing was adopted. It was suggested to DaisyG (better known on this board as ChloeB) that she might produce a photographic solution to the problem in the form of a montage.
This she duly did and here is the resulting thread. See Montage of the Nest and Eggs
Here was the montage
and then another thread egg montage
I post all of this for a number of reason. After Chloe posted her montage of the cats I remembered the egg montage. I suggested we post it so I got the job. This was Chloe's first use of her art to solve a problem on a major internet forum.
It a great memory but actually quite tame compared to what was to come.
Notice how we could not even do live links on DPOF back in 2006.
Tiger and Chloe - Sounds like you have been following ospreys on webcams for a good few years. I started last year and feel privileged to be in your company on this site. The mystery of the missing egg is intriguing and indeed I enjoyed reading the comments posted by others. Well done Chloe on your montages and abilities with moving (tiger and others I'm sure) images.
Emma I am glad you enjoyed the mystery. I have been watching webcams of one sort or another since 2001 or thereabbouts. Here was my first post on DPOF. Then later a highly amusing thread about whether I am male or female. See help me Tiger In a similar vein Richard Thaxton has been known to think that ChloeB and Tiger are one and the same :) :)
Thanks Emma, what a lovely thing to say. I have been watching webcams since spring 2005. Introduced to ospreys by Tiger in summer 2005 and never looked back
LOL yes he did Tiger :)
Tiger and Chloe are most definitely NOT one and the same but if we were, would that make me male or you female Tiger? :))
You all still reading! :)
Well it all went well for a few weeks with all three chicks getting fed and they were growing nicely. However around the 18th June the harmony was broken when aggression broke out in the nest. See aggression.
Part of the problem was that Dennis had started to bring in goldfish. These being small often mean that Flag, the youngest chick, had to go hungry as there was only food for two and they were hungry by the next goldfish.
Apparently some family stocked their pond just to feed the ospreys. In many ways they were not helping at all.
On the evening of 22nd June 2006 this led to my all time fav cam watching moment. Here was my description of it live. See Flag is One Incredible Chick.
DPOF obledged by posting the video of Flag's triumph.
A quote from Tiger, June 22:
Yes I think I will have to revise my all time favourite moment in watching this cam. I think it will now be that wonderful moment when Flag pecked Star in the rump and somehow Star blamed Stripe and gave him a good hiding. Best of all Flag snuck in and got a meal.
See Hey It is my turn