Welcome Home, Femke and Hauke!

Our resident Osprey pair – Femke and Hauke – have returned home from South America to nest once again at our Loomis Goose Creek Preserve in Ashville!

We have been following the pair since 2020 when they first made their home on the nesting platform that we placed at the preserve a few years prior. Typically, Hauke arrives first, followed by Femke several days later – each traveling from different overwintering locations. However, for the first time, they arrived on the same day!

In this first photo from a motion-activated camera placed near the nest, you can see Femke (on the left with the speckled "necklace") holding a stick in her left talon. Both will be busy over the next several days to week cleaning up and repairing the nest and also working to create a soft spot in the middle for the arrival of this year’s egg(s), which we can expect to see in late April.

We are incredibly excited to have our dear Osprey friends back home and look forward to watching them and this year’s young now through early September when they make their month-long, 5,000-mile journey back to South America. Welcome home, friends!

We’ll be sharing additional photos and short videos of Femke, Hauke, and their young on our social media pages throughout their breeding season, so be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates!