General

More osprey chicks on the way at Fort Calhoun Station

The resident ospreys at Fort Calhoun Station (FCS) have more chicks on the way.

The first egg appeared April 17, and two more arrived over the following week. A typical clutch can range from one to four eggs.

Both birds are busy preparing their home for their new chicks. They are adding sticks and branches to the nest, bolstering the sides

The incubation period for osprey eggs is 36 to 42 days. That means we should see some chicks hatching in late May or early June. You can watch the progress on the ospreys’ webcam.

Osprey chicks typically begin flying when they’re about two months old. Usually within a couple weeks after that, they will begin to learn to hunt, but their parents will continue to feed them. About two months after they start flying, they’ll begin to hunt on their own.

Adult ospreys are a bit smaller than eagles, with a wingspan between 5 and 6 feet.

Ospreys draw far-flung audience

This will be the pair’s second year raising chicks on camera.

The ospreys’ home is the only known nesting site in eastern Nebraska. Last year, observers from around the world watched the pair hatch and raise three chicks.

The raptors first built a large nest on top of a 360-foot meteorological tower at FCS. In December 2020, while the birds were gone for the winter, OPPD workers took the tower down the tower as part of decommissioning efforts, carefully preserving the nest.

OPPD partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to move the nest to its current location, on a platform atop a 50-foot power pole, near the site of the previous tower. The plan meets state and federal regulations regarding protected species.

The pair returned to their relocated nest in 2021. Then, before they returned in spring 2022, a webcam was added to the power pole. That means the ospreys have joined the peregrine falcon family at OPPD’s North Omaha Station as feathered reality stars.