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Observations & Images
22 February 2006
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| The female Osprey was alone in the nest when I arrived. The male Osprey was back in the pines on the same branch where the pair had spent so much time yesterday. |
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Eventually, the female Osprey flew down and joined the male Osprey. |
| Then they repeated yesterday's performance of perching in the same spot for a couple of hours. This time they did not engage in grooming but just sat there. Half the time the male Osprey had his eyes closed so he may have been napping. In this picture the male is at left, note the white breast, and the female at right, note the brown mottling in her breast feathers. |
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At sunset they both returned to the nest where more mating occurred. |
| Invigorated, the male set to gathering nesting material while the female stayed in the nest. This did not last long as darkness ended the day's activities. Note, the Osprey is just passing by those branches in the picture. The material in the male Osprey's talons is the only thing he is carrying. |
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THE NEIGHBORS
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A female Red-Bellied Woodpecker paid a visit to the Osprey nest this afternoon while the Osprey pair were off relaxing back in the pines. She briefly looked inside the nest, seen here, but did not venture any further than the edge. Compare this picture with the first picture above of the female Osprey. The female Osprey is standing in almost the same spot as the Woodpecker shown here giving an idea of the size difference between the two. |
| The Red-Bellied Woodpecker hopped around the different limbs surrounding the Osprey nest atop the pine tree. |
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Then, something surprising happened. Right below the Osprey nest the Woodpecker came to a cavity in a limb. If she had not stopped at it I never would have noticed the cavity since it blends in to the limb so as to go unnoticed at a distance. |
| She entered the cavity which is big enough for her to completely disappear from view at times. The rest of the day she stayed in the cavity with just her head sticking out. It will be interesting to see if this is her nest or just a convenient stop in her travels to spend the afternoon. |
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The small, oddly-shaped head of the Soft Shell Turtle belies its massive body hidden underneath the water. Of the many turtles in the water near the observation point, the Soft Shell Turtles take the most interest in me, often coming quite close to get a look. |
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