Observations & Images
10 April 2007
Approximate age of nestling(s) in days: 13
THE NEIGHBORS
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Observations & Images
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Another day and another big fish meets its end on a branch far from the water. |
| The effort and energy expended to open the fish up is immense. Often the male tugs and pulls and succeeds in ripping off only a little morsel. | |
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Tug-of-war with resilient fish guts. |
| To pass the time until the male brings the fish to the nest, the female takes a short flight and returns with a branch. | |
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She waits patiently with the hidden nestlings for the male to arrive with their meal. |
| The male finally takes wing with the fish. | |
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The female, at left, looks like she is sizing up the fish the male has brought. |
| The first clear glimpse of a nestling. At least two are seen. The green circle highlights a little nestling's dinosaur-like head facing toward the camera begging for food. | |
THE NEIGHBORS |
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Part of a flock of Cormorants that passed overhead. |
| The trees and thick foliage around the Osprey nest are alive with little birds but they are very shy and difficult to photograph. Here a male Indigo Bunting makes a brief appearance before disappearing back into the brush. | |
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One of two Merlins that have been around the Osprey nest the past week or so. The two Merlins seem to tolerate each other's presence but don't seem to be a pair. |
| The Merlins have become regular visitors. | |
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A female Pileated Woodpecker, at lower left, hitched up the tree to find herself face-to-face with one of the little falcons at upper right. Both the Merlin and the Woodpecker eyed each other for a moment then flew off together in separate directions. |
| A large number of Vultures were soaring over the Refuge today. The kettle included at least one Wood Stork and an Osprey. Here a Black Vulture makes an abrupt turn to avoid a collision as the Osprey swings by. | |