JUNE 4, 2011

The babies must be here.  We haven't seen them, of course, but both Mama and Papa stand on the side of the nest, gazing fondly down and offering tidbits with their beaks.  Mama settles in once more, covering the chicks with her warm feathers.  Time for an afternoon nap.

MAY 28, 2011

Papa has been busy collecting grassy material for the nest.  Either Mama has complained about the discomfort of sitting on sticks 24/7 or the chicks are almost here.  Or both.

MAY 23, 2011

After three years as the ospreys' neighbors, we have been accepted.  Jack went out for a sail in Little Bird, our ketch.  Mama kept a sharp yellow eye on him, but made not a peep. When he returned, she was still on the nest, of course, but she moved her head from side to side as he pulled up to the pier.  According to a raptor expert we know, that's the way that hawks customarily greet each other. After a time, some people are deemed worthy of being considered hawks and also get the side to side head bob.  We're in!

MAY 20, 2011

We've seen a bald eagle soaring above the river near our cove, and we're sure the ospreys have, too.  Mama does not leave the nest unless Papa is standing guard.  

MAY 15, 2011

After a tumultuous beginning, the ospreys have adopted a lifestyle befitting parents-to-be. Their nest has grown larger and sturdier, and the couple spends more time there -- without the rapturous wing-flapping and sky-diving of earlier this spring.  About a week ago, the female took to the nest full-time. Today her mate arrived with a fish.  After eating, both stood on the edge of the nest inspecting their eggs.  Then she settled in once more.

APRIL 18, 2011

The nest is growing bigger and the ospreys are spending more time there.

APRIL 7, 2011

Progress has been made!  When we go out in the backyard, the ospreys eye us suspiciously, but do not sound the "peep peep" alarm or fly away from their nest to distract us.  They have finally come to recognize us, we think.

We were recently privy to a springtime show of male-osprey machismo.  As we sat on a wooden bench enjoying the warm weather, an osprey dived so fast and furiously from a great height that we could hear the "whoosh." He rocketed past the nest.

At that, the female osprey flapped languidly to a tree across the cove and settled on a branch.  The male osprey took off after the intruder.  The two ended up in the water, beating their wings and darting at each other before resuming the chase in the air.

It was some time before our male returned, and the other osprey hasn't been back.