Observations & Images
30 April 2006
Age of nestling(s) in days: 19
THE NEIGHBORS
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Observations & Images
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| The sky at sunrise over the Refuge was overcast with a chilly wind blowing as a late season front moved through. In the Osprey nest, though, domestic life goes on regardless of the weather as the female fed her offspring. | |
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Three hungry mouths reach for one morsel of fish. |
| The largest nestling seems to have the advantage over the others at feeding time since it can reach higher to intercept the food before the other two nestlings have an opportunity at it. | |
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The amount of time the female Osprey spent feeding the nestlings indicates it must have been a large fish the male had caught. Shortly after breakfast was over the male brought a new fish to the nest. |
| The female Osprey must have been tired of feeding the young and for a change of pace made several flights to collect material for the nest. | |
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As the female went back and forth ferrying sticks to the nest the male flew off with a fish from the nest which he ate in the pines. Before long he returned the fish to the nest and flew off. |
| Showing off his prowess for catching fish, the male soon returned with yet another luckless fish which he delivered to the nest. | |
THE NEIGHBORS |
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The Pileated Woodpeckers were also active at sunrise as they took turns in the nest cavity. Here the male Pileated Woodpecker looks out of the cavity while the female approaches. The male flew off and the female went into the hole. |
| The male soon returned to the cavity. | |
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The female came to the opening to greet her mate. |
| The female exited the cavity and flew off while the male went in. | |
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The female Pileated Woodpecker stayed around the area allowing close observations to be made. |
| She did not seem overly concerned with having her picture taken. With a face like that, though, she must know she is cute. | |
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A curious Great Crested Flycatcher stopped by to see what all the fuss was about. |
| A group of Bobolinks most likely migrating back up north from their wintering grounds in South America were not too tolerant of having their picture taken but flew off before a close approach could be made. Special thanks to Alice Rowe for identifying these birds for lazy me. | |