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Observations & Images
9 March 2006
5th day of incubating
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| Another blustery day carrying a chill in the air. The female rode in the nest as the pine tree swayed back and forth in the stiff wind. |
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After quite some time, the male Osprey appeared with the tail end of a fish in his grasp. Again, per Osprey custom, this is probably a fish he has already eaten his fill of and is taking what is left of it to the female. |
| The female, seen in the foreground, has excitedly taken the fish away from the male using her beak. |
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She immediately took to the air with the fish tail and did several loops around the nest area before landing on her usual eating perch. The picture at left is unique in that not only does it show the fish in her talon but, also, a butterfly just to the lower right of her wingtip. |
| She rapidly consumed the fish. |
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After her meal, she cleaned her bill on the tree limb which is her usual practice. Note her tongue is, once again, lulling out in the left image. |
| After about a half hour she returned to the nest, here she is seen at left just after landing, and traded places with the male whose head can be seen at right. Each time the Ospreys switched positions in the nest, they were never off the eggs for more than a minute. |
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The male made an effort to work on the nest but the strong wind hampered his efforts. Here he returns with some cushioning material. |
| As soon as the male Osprey returned with the nesting material, the female Osprey took wing and returned to her eating perch. |
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The male immediately took over the nest duty while the female did her best not to be blown off the limb by the strong wind. As the sky darkened to night, the two Ospreys were still in these locations when I left. |
THE NEIGHBORS
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| Before the male Osprey returned with the fish, an Osprey was seen in the distance over the Indian River Lagoon. It would have gone unnoticed save the female Osprey in the nest raised an alarm at its appearance. Or this could be her mate and she was trying to call him in. Whichever the case may be, her eyesight is quite keen and she usually alerts me through her actions of something about to happen. In this instance, the Osprey veered off and disappeared. |
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A neighboring world in space, the Moon, waxing to full in the late afternoon blue sky over the Osprey nest. |
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