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Observations & Images
17 March 2006
13th day of incubating
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| The attentiveness of the male Osprey varies each day from doting fealty to completely ignoring his mate. |
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Although he did briefly switch places on the nest with his mate, most of the time he ignored her loud calls that sounded so much like pleas for attention. |
| In this and the images above, he is seen on one of his flights around the area. A Red-Tailed Hawk was clearly visible perched nearby all afternoon. Perhaps the male Osprey's long, looping flights around the vicinity of the nest might be some sort of defensive posture though he never approached the Red-Tail which, also, never approached the Ospreys. |
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The female Osprey spent most of the afternoon alone in the nest. |
THE NEIGHBORS
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| Not far away, the Great Horned Owl couple keep up their own vigil though on a decidedly different time schedule. |
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With its mate in the nearby nest, this Great Horned Owl napped in the pines. |
| Very active at night, the Owls generally sleep during the day. |
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While its mate slept comfortably in the shady pines, the Great Horned Owl in the nest suffered through the heat of the afternoon with no respite from the Sun beating down. The Owl could be seen panting heavily and looked very uncomfortable. |
| Another predator in the neighborhood all afternoon, though much more visible than the Owls, was this Red-Tailed Hawk who spent hours atop a dead tree trunk interspersed with occasional brief flights that always ended up returning to the same perch. |
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Late in the afternoon the Red-Tail flew past me to another perch. Interestingly, the area this afternoon was filled with birds, especially Northern Mockingbirds, several Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, and a Great Blue Heron. None of the birds showed any fear of the Hawk unlike the raucous exodus of birds on 13 March when a Red-Tailed Hawk flew over the area. |
| The ruddy color of the tail that gives the Hawk its name can be seen. |
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The Red-Tailed Hawk is a big bird comparable to the Osprey. Its flight can be compared with the male Osprey's flying shown above. |
| The Hawk turned its head to examine me as it passed by. |
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One of many Northern Mockingbirds seen throughout the day. |
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