Are You Missing A Plushy Blue Travel Bug?

[+Cheesy pigs]

Well just after I'd posted my post, the female Osprey came back for breakfast! She eyeballed the camera, so I got some good shots of her (though I cant post them here, being computer illiterate!)

[+Snuva]

Can someone closer to Little Dude let him/her know that we in Australia are waiting with bated breath for a live viewing of him/her? All we are getting is an empty nest, its quite sad!

And would you also please stop it being dark while Australians are at work and have fast internet access please?! But seriously, this is a lot of fun! I've got several co-workers checking it in the morning (when there's still enough light to see the nest).

[+forthferalz]

postmorrow.org/OspreyFund/ospreycam.htm

 

there are pdf plans on this website for building your own osprey nest platform. Shows aguy up a ladder doing some work on the camera ? they shut it down in october. maybe conneticut does the same and can rettrieve orlook at OZzzy then.

[+cache_test_dummies]

How nice. Someone left Ozzy half a fish. Or a whole fish, and he already ate the other half.

 

[+cache_test_dummies]

50 minutes later - Ozzy has finished eating the other half of the fish. Bones and tail and all.

 

[+Planet]

HA! I was just saving the photos so that I could report that the fish was stolen, maybe it was eaten. I wasn't paying attention. Ozzy looks like he's choking!

[+MountainMudbug]

I was watching around 10:50 and turned away for just a couple minutes, and when I came back the fish1/2 was gone!

 

I've gotten addicted to watching zoo cams, there are some nice ones at:

Monterey Bay Aquarium in CA, and at the National Zoo in DC.

[+Snoogans]

I've gotten addicted to watching zoo cams, there are some nice ones at:

Monterey Bay Aquarium

 

I go there almost every year and I watch those webcams too.

[+MountainMudbug]

9-1-06..... Lunch!

 

Uh-oh, all is fine until a power struggle breaks out....

 

"Won't hand it over, eh??"

 

"Whatever, I'm outta here!"

 

(yesterday)

8-31-06.... "Excuse me, waiter. There seems to be a tad of splood on my sushi....."

 

Ozzy's silent patience is amazing. I'm sure he smells really amazing now, too

Edited September 1, 2006 by MountainMudbug

[+cache_test_dummies]

Little Osprey: Hey, where did that blue thing go?

 

Ozzy: Mfmrmn nmgfrmglr mnmgnrg!

 

[+PastorDIC]

This song is for everyone, but especially for those of us who have a blocked webcam at work and for the Australians who get to work when the webcam is dark.

 

It is to the tune of "We love you Conrad" from the musical "Bye Bye Birdy".

 

 

We love you Ozzy, oh yes we do, we love you Little Dude, and this is true. When we can't see you, we're blue/ OH Webcam we love you.

 

We love you Webcam, oh yes we do, we love you Webcam, and this is true. When people don't post pictures, we're blue/ OH Webshots we love you.

 

We love you Ozzy, oh yes we do, we love you Ozzy, and this is true. When you go over, we'll come get you/ OH Ozzy we love you.

[+bccruiser]

This song is for everyone, but especially for those of us who have a blocked webcam at work and for the Australians who get to work when the webcam is dark.

 

It is to the tune of "We love you Conrad" from the musical "Bye Bye Birdy".

 

 

We love you Ozzy, oh yes we do, we love you Little Dude, and this is true. When we can't see you, we're blue/ OH Webcam we love you.

 

We love you Webcam, oh yes we do, we love you Webcam, and this is true. When people don't post pictures, we're blue/ OH Webshots we love you.

 

We love you Ozzy, oh yes we do, we love you Ozzy, and this is true. When you go over, we'll come get you/ OH Ozzy we love you.

 

I love it. Maybe we can work up a whole song with this as the chorus!!

[+bccruiser]

I'm going to be without an internet for the next four days. Oh what oh what will I do. Ozzy hang in there while I'm gone.

[+MountainMudbug]

Update!

Ozzy's been shifted in the nest. I missed it happen (of course!) but there has been lots of activity there today, much fish-eating. Several times I saw two birds in the nest at once, naturally with some fussing and jockeying for position.

[+cache_test_dummies]

Little Osprey worked on that fish for an hour and a half.

 

 

Then, at some point in the last half hour, Ozzy somehow got moved to the far side of the nest.

 

 

edit: I see that MountainMudbug saw it too.

Edited September 1, 2006 by cache_test_dummies

[+forthferalz]

Maybe ozzy can get nominated to the hero teddy bears hall of fame

http://www.imahero.com/products/bears/bears_main.html

[+MountainMudbug]

ALERT! ALERT!

I don't want to start a panic, but it looks like Ozzy has flown the nest!

[+Hiking Cockroachess]

ALERT! ALERT!

I don't want to start a panic, but it looks like Ozzy has flown the nest!

 

I noticed this too! Did he fall, or has the time to move South begun...and is our little blue TB going with Little Dude?

[+PastorDIC]

Has the Ozzy rescue team been alerted?

 

Looking for

Caches and TBs

ALMOST anywhere.

[+MountainMudbug]

it looks like Ozzy has flown the nest!

Status report:

There appears to be a new piece of driftwood in the nest, perhaps to compensate for the loss of Ozzy.....?

I watched one osprey standing in the nest in the same spot for 25 minutes with no fish. Looks like it must be drizzling a little there, hope he wasn't crying 'cause Ozzy's gone!

 

Sure wish I'd been watching when Ozzy left

[+MountainMudbug]

Been raining steadily for about 5 hours I think, water is really rising, Ozzy must be long gone???

I haven't seen any osprey activity since around 13:00:00

Edited September 2, 2006 by MountainMudbug

[+gailois]

Oh,no! I leave for a weekend out of state, finally get to a computer and now no OZZY!!

[+Ttepee]

Oh Nooooooo! Poor Ozzie. My guess is he went for his first flight on the wings of Ernesto.... the winds have been wicked today here in NY northwest of Ozzie. I'd run to attempt recon tomorrow but from the looks of the waters chances seem pretty slim, plus the weather is not supposed to be much better. Anyone up for a paddle on Monday if the weather cooperates? Just for the heck of it so we know that we've tried.

[+q22q17]

Oh Nooooooo! Poor Ozzie. My guess is he went for his first flight on the wings of Ernesto.... the winds have been wicked today here in NY northwest of Ozzie. I'd run to attempt recon tomorrow but from the looks of the waters chances seem pretty slim, plus the weather is not supposed to be much better. Anyone up for a paddle on Monday if the weather cooperates? Just for the heck of it so we know that we've tried.

 

Oh! If you do go out, post photos!! I wonder if Ozzy is dangling in the tree........

[+cache_test_dummies]

All right, which one of you clowns absconded with my bear?

 

Sure, sure. Nobody saw anything. Right.

 

Bring da bear back, and nobody gets hurt. Understand?

 

[+forthferalz]

Its sort of like the pet pets on neopets.com (there's even petpet pets). Have any serious naturalists made any comments on the ospreys apparent toy collecting behaviour?

[+Ttepee]

So much for a nice clear webcam... slapping a fish on the lens does work to blur things for us. This is one smart bird.

 

 

See what half an hour of fish slapping does.

 

Edited September 4, 2006 by Ttepee

[+Planet]

I was in Vermont. What a windy weekend it was up there, trees falling down all over the place. I thought of Ozzy at one point. There was a bad 3 car accident on Route 9 between Bennington VT and Hoosick NY. So I took a left. I could, I had a GPS. I kept on taking back roads from Vermont to Connecticut and somewhere in East Boondocks I get the call from Ttepee. My cell phone works out here? Cool! How do you like that?

"Hey Planet, where are you?"

"I have no freaking idea. Hi Ttepee, what's up?" (I stop the car in the road, it's in the boonies, no one is coming.)

"Ozzy flew the coop."

"NO!! "

"Yes, I've been webcam watching for you"

"Oh man, I had a feeling it would happen in all that wind. Figures it's when I'm away"

"Want to go kayaking?"

We wouldn't have time enough until next weekend and judging from the storm surge in one of those photos, I'm sure he's floated away. But if you're ever on the beach and a little blue bear, that answers to the name of Ozzy, tosses ashore in the surf. Please pick him up, brush him off, give him a nice warm bath. Tell him how much we care.

Happy Trails Ozzy! Where ever you are.

 

PS: Kayak trip to Milford Point next weekend, anyone?

Edited September 4, 2006 by Planet

[+PastorDIC]

Maybe Little Dude just gave him a bath down below and he is drying off in the tall grass below the nest. (One can only hope.)

 

P.S. You HAVE to find him. What will we do in our non-geocaching free time if we aren't on Ozzy watch (or Ozzy TB watch in the future)?

[+What rock?]

This is distressing news!

[+1NatureMom]

PLANET!! YOU ROCK!!! This is the world's bestest thread!

 

Since I cannot yak with ya's, I'll be the land photographer ok?! Lemme know when you're going out to paddle.

 

After the 1NatureGirls get on the school bus tomw morning, I'll drive over with binocolars & zoom lens camera to see if I can see any signs of Ozzy from the shore!

 

Stay tuned.......

[+Ttepee]

I wonder what would happen if a concerned adventurous relative of Ozzie's, a little blue teddy bear, maybe with a TB tag attached, were to do some nature watching at the Charles E. Wheeler Salt Marsh within range of the Ospreys. I wonder how much they miss Ozzie? How cool would that be for us to be able to watch. Probably not a good idea though huh? ...hehehe

[+Ttepee]

Probably just very wishful thinking but what is that hint of blue in the red circle???

 

[+Belfrypotters]

I was wondering the same thing. And there are several other off-camera spots where Ozzy could be hiding. Don't give up yet! But just in case, do Beanies float?

[+Planet]

I don't know about the floating. It's been in the rain and weather for months and is loaded with splood, bugs, seaweed, fish parts, icky stuff.

So I'm checking....and this is on Wikipedia:

Beanie Baby is a stuffed animal filled with plastic pellets, or "beans," rather than stuffing (see PVC). A Beanie Baby is thus a form of bean bag.

 

So I checked out PVC:

 

Polyvinyl chloride

Density 1380 kg/m3

Young's modulus (E) 2900-3400 MPa

Tensile strength(σt) 50-80 MPa

Elongation @ break 20-40%

Notch test 2-5 kJ/m2

Glass temperature 87 °C

Melting point 212 °C

Vicat B1 85 °C

Heat Transfer Coefficient (λ) 0.16 W/m.K

Linear Expansion Coefficient (α) 8 10-5 /K

Specific heat © 0.9 kJ/(kg·K)

Water absorption (ASTM) 0.04-0.4

Price 0.5-1.25 €/kg

1 Deformation temperature at 10 kN needle load

source: [1]

 

Can anyone tell me if that means it floats? I don't recall any floating PVC at any beaches, unless it held air. That's the stuffing in beanie babies. Would that amount of stuffing be sufficient to hold up the weight of the bag part of the bean bag toy? I am not a scientist. How about any scientists, mathmeticians, or people who know more about this than I out there? Then we have to take into account the storm surge, winds, tides, currents and boat traffic since he fell out, we'd have to guesstimate the time of the drop from the nest, distance to the water, oh... this hurts my head.... Good luck, Ozzy. Have a nice swim. We'll be keeping en eye out for you.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Density would be the key here. (What are all those strange numbers and letters? Why weren't we taught metrics like the rest of the world?) (Rant off.) (You should have seen me trying to set the air conditioner in Canada!)

PVC has a density of 1380 kg/m3. Water at 22ºC has a density of 998 kg/m3. That means that standard PVS will sink. Poor Ozzy!

[SGT Superman]

well if he sinks it might be a good thing. He might just get held up in some plant life near the nest rather than being carried away by the current.

[+Planet]

Here's a photo Mopar sent me showing the nest and its surroundings. I've used this picture entirely without his permission, I didn't even ask. I hope you don't mind Mopar.

 

 

And thanks Harry Dolphin, for the info.

[+Planet]

Search and Recovery Mission!

 

OK! A kayak trip is being planned for this weekend on Saturday. I will post it in the New England Forums. Who wants to join us? So far it’s Ttepee and I. You don’t need to come with a boat if you want to picnic at Silver Sands after the search and recover mission. Feel free to post here or in the New England thread. I hope this isn’t considered duplicate posts since this thread is about a potentially missing travel bug, and the other will be about a kayak trip. J You must post if you want to eat (unless you bring your own of course, then just show up.) High tide is around noon, so I think a starting time of 11AM would work, since Ttepee has to come over from NY.

 

Here is the menu:

 

Planet Wraps for everyone!

Chips

And if you want anything else, well, bring it along! Bring a beach chair, blanket, and your beverage of choice.

 

Here's the beach for hanging out, there are caches there.

 

Here's the weather report for Milford for Saturday:

 

Saturday:

Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low 60s.

 

http://intellicast.com/IcastPage/LoadPage....mp;prodnav=none

 

Here's the cache at Milford Point.

 

Here's the boat ramp info:

Birdseye Boat Ramp - Stratford Recently upgraded, very nice boat ramp and fingers for access to Nells Island and Long Island Sound. Ample parking and a snack hut (if hut is closed you can always take a left on Elm St., go about a mile, and get a chillidog at The Cricket, opposite the Avco plant). Contact the Stratford Parks and Recreation Department for information and ramp fees (203) 385-4085. Access: Ferry Boulevard to Elm Street, take a left on Birdseye Street past the sewage treatment plant.

COORDS: N41 10.753 W73 07.484

 

There's no fee if you are a resident and the boat is on top of your car. (Maybe we can convince Mopar and GeoHo to be our hosts)

 

Otherwise, there is this ramp:

Naugatuck Avenue (I-95) Boat Ramp - Milford (Devon) This is the state ramp nearest to Long Island Sound that is free to everyone. There is parking for 80 cars & trailers. Portalets are available during the boating season. The ramp is shielded from the current by the railroad bridge. Contact the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for information. Access: Bridgeport Avenue (Rt. 1) to Naugatuck Avenue, left under I-95 bridge.

It's free, but farther upstream and if the tide is on the way out going upstream on the way back, it's a harder paddle.

 

COORDS: N41 12.357 W73 06.388

 

Or this one, but we’d have to carry our boats in past the chained driveway:

Court Street Boat Ramp - Milford Boat ramp at the bottom of Nells Island that is only useable at high and mid-tides so plan your trip carefully unless you enjoy getting stuck at low tide. Access: Naugatuck Avenue to Milford Point Road, turn right at the tennis courts onto Court Street. There is chain across the drive at times, but you can always walk in. Contact the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for information at (860) 485-0226.

But it's only usable at high tide.

COORDS: N41 11.030 W73 05.901

 

I'm going to say the Birdseye Boat Ramp would work best and is the closest, but we'd have to go across the river. And beware the big boats and wakes.

 

Here is the tide info:

Tides for Milford Harbor starting with September 9, 2006.

Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon

/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible

 

Sa 9 High 12:30 AM 7.9 6:27 AM Set 8:38 AM 98

9 Low 6:43 AM -0.7 7:12 PM Rise 8:11 PM

9 High 12:53 PM 8.3

9 Low 7:14 PM -0.7

 

Here is the topozone map.

 

Terraserver image.

 

Here are the nearest caches (looks like only two traditional caches left for me on that first page to get)

 

So let me know. I know it's short notice, but I can't let another week go by without checking for Ozzy, poor Ozzy! You would all be wondering "what if" for years!

 

(Edited: to add a link for the beach)

Edited September 7, 2006 by Planet

[+PastorDIC]

What time should we start looking at the Little Dude - Ozzy Cam to see if we can see the Ozzy Search and Recovery Mission Recovery Team in the background? Maybe one of us here on the west coast can catch a screenshot of OSRMRT in all its glory coming in for the rescue. I want to make sure I am not out caching, or getting a latte at the wrong time.

[+Planet]

Please note: We will not be disturbing the nest, no matter what! We probably can't even get close, but we can look around and paddle around anyway.

[+Planet]

Oh in that case! We'll wave and paddle around in circles in front of the camera, maybe even moon you once or twice, (JUST KIDDING!)

We should be approaching the nest area around 12:30 to -1:00 PM EST. My kayak is fiberglass color, a pale yellowish sort of color old Pheonix (it was never painted) Ttepee has a periwinkle sort of blue Pungo. I have a grey life jacket (thanks 1Naturemom for the wonderful birthday present I use it a lot!!!) , she has a blue one, I'm pretty sure.

 

I'm just doing a little more research to make sure it's ok to paddle there, and it should be if I recall my riparian rights correctly. This isn't quite river, not quite the Sound, but a maritime line in between. It's salt water, but it might be briny. I don't want to step on any toes or talons here. Also, one of the boat launches I found is pretty close to there.

[+PastorDIC]

Even if we see the tiniest yellowish, periwinkle, grey, and blue dots in the water at the edge of the fisheye lens we can still put an arrow there and say "There are the intrepid hunters who braved wave, wind, seagrass, and talon to rescue Ozzy."

 

If things don't turn out as planned we can always mint a memorial geocaching coin in your honor.

[+Blue Power Ranger]

... That means that standard PVS will sink. Poor Ozzy!

 

My scientific tests (beanie w/ kid in bathtub) shows that it will float.

[+Planet]

... That means that standard PVS will sink. Poor Ozzy!

 

My scientific tests (beanie w/ kid in bathtub) shows that it will float.

 

For how long? Can you leave it in the tub and check? If the water gets too cold, just take the kid out or add more warm water

 

Science is FUN!

[+1NatureMom]

OZZ FEST!! WOOHOO!!

 

Since I am not able to kayak, I'm the ground crew! 1NatureGirls & I will be there with camera & binocolars! If any one in this forum would like the play-by-play update, email me, and I'll give you my cell # so you can post updates here for Ozzy's fans to see!

[+PastorDIC]

Anyone know a reviewer in Connecticut? Why Not turn it into an Event Cache? How About the......

 

Ozzy Search and Recovery Mission Event Cache

 

(I wish I could be there).

Edited September 7, 2006 by PastorDIC

[+What rock?]

We'll be anxiously awaiting news. Hope it is good.

[+Planet]

This isn't about a smiley. It's about Ozzy! I'm making a few sandwiches, and hoping a few few folks want to paddle. Just a little picnic with a search and recovery mission. Wouldn't want to upset the Audubon Society Folks. I like them. I once attempted to participate in the Cornell University Bird Watch Program. We met at the Audubon in Southbury to learn how to count birds, the way they do. Have you ever tried to count birds? Male vs Female, did you see two at a time, or one then another, that's one, but two at a time is two, two at a time and another one is two unless you could still see the other two then it's three, and you know what? I didn't record very much. But I digress.

 

We're always careful. I measured it on mapsource and it's only .35 to get across to the marsh, then follow the edge until we get in the marsh. It's only a little over a mile one way. Inside the marsh is pretty calm, little current, but if the tide goes out I know we could be in mud in some of that marsh. It went out fast last time we were there. It's supposed to be a nice day.

[+geoSquid]

 

Polyvinyl chloride

Density 1380 kg/m3

 

Can anyone tell me if that means it floats?

 

In general, if the object is not specifically designed to be a boat or some kind of hollow object, a density greater than 1000 kg/m3 means "sinks like a rock"