Observations & Images
12 March 2006
8th day of incubating
THE NEIGHBORS
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Observations & Images
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| The female Osprey spent a lot of time off the nest today. Here she is retrieving with her bill half of a fish brought by the male who is visible in the background. | |
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Once she had the fish, she soared off the nest to her eating perch. The male immediately settled on the eggs. Note the touch of red visible in front of the male Osprey on the rim of the nest. This is a little red flag attached to a white pole like the phone company sticks in the ground to mark underground cables and things. |
| After eating, the female returned to the nest and resumed sitting on the eggs. Here she is watching the male fly in with more nesting material. | |
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After dropping off the load seen in the above picture he flew off and very shortly afterward returned carrying more material for the nest. When he landed this time the female got up and flew off. The red flag is visible just to the left of the female's tail feathers. |
| The male settled into the nest where he stayed until after the Sun set. Note the red flag has now shifted and is sliding down the side of the nest. | |
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The female flew around in several loops before settling in the pines to groom herself. |
| After a long interval of grooming and just plain sitting, she flew around and landed atop a pine tree near the nest. | |
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Here she is scratching her head using her talons. |
| After the Sun set, the female flew back to the nest. Here she can be seen at the upper left looking down on her mate in the nest. Note the flag is now gone having slid free of the nest and fallen to the ground. Shortly after this picture was taken the two Ospreys switched positions. | |
THE NEIGHBORS |
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An active day for the neighbors. The water near the nest is full of turtles but usually they are seen singly. Today a group of them came together. |
| A treat was the return of the Otter who has not been seen for a few days. | |
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As always, his curiosity is aroused at the sound of the camera shutter firing which draws his attention to have a look at what I am doing. |
| After spending some time foraging, the Otter left the water completely and disappeared in the tall grass. Note his large, muscular tail which moved around like a cross between a monkey's tail and a cat's tail. | |
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At sunset, a female Red-Bellied Woodpecker appeared. Here she can be seen on the left side of the left tree trunk. The tail feathers of the male Osprey can be seen sticking up over the nest. |
| The light faded rapidly so a little photo manipulation which results in a blurry picture must be employed to highlight the Woodpecker sitting in the cavity below the Osprey nest previously seen occupied by a Red-Belly on 22 February. Perhaps this is the same Woodpecker? | |