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Observations & Images
8 March 2006
4th day of incubating
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| Incubation and carrying things were the order of the day for both Ospreys on the fourth day of caring for the eggs in the nest. First, the male Osprey, seen here, returned carrying the leftovers of his dinner which he gave to the female. |
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The female, seen here, took the small offering from the male and flew to her eating perch in the pines. The male, meanwhile, settled himself down into the nest and patiently awaited the female's return. |
| After making short work of her meager meal, the female undertook to clean her bill by rubbing it against a tree limb. A process that has been witnessed before. In the blowups, it is evident that her tongue is lulling out, something which, also, has been seen before on several occasions when she cleaned her bill. |
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After the female returned to the nest and settled down over the eggs, the male was struck by a bout of nest-building fever. He made repeated trips to bring cushioning material, seen here, along with branches and twigs back to the nest. |
| This is a different material run from the one shown above. Unfortunately, due to a lack of memory card space brought on by the photographer's negligence, some of the more dramatic items he brought back were not captured. |
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THE NEIGHBORS |
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Two newcomers, Susan Boyd and her friend, Angela, were with me today to view the Osprey family and the other residents of the neighborhood. We made a short trip down to see the Great Horned Owls. As usual, one of the Owls, seen here peeking over the top, is in its usual position in the nest. |
| I was certain we would see the other Great Horned Owl somewhere close by in the pines. We searched a long time without luck but as the Sun began to set it lit up a previously deeply shadowed area close to the nesting Owl and revealed its partner. |
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The Great Horned Owl did not seem too disturbed by our presence so we took this to mean we could move closer. |
| The coloration of the feathers so well camouflages the Owl that it is hard to see in the tree from a distance even when looking directly at it. |
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We were able to get close for a good look but, sadly, the aforementioned full memory card restricted the number of pictures of the Great Horned Owl to a handful. The Owl had the satisfaction of watching as a relentless swarm of no-see-ums drove us back to the cars as the Sun went down. |
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