Returning from my trip last week, my hands were full of “stuff” that needed immediate attention. Like catching up on Bumble’s ear massages. Then NaNoWriMo kicked in gear on Saturday. And on Sunday night our air handler decided it was time to quit. I have to say it picked the best possible time to go silent. No need for heating or cooling in this gorgeous fall weather we’re having right now.
Anyway, I had checked on Papa Osprey using my binoculars. He was alive and well, doing his eat and rest routine in the nest for a few hours every day. But we he hadn’t actually met since long before my trip. He might have spotted me though when gliding high up past my office window on Sunday, enjoying the high winds we had over the weekend. I waved vigorously, but there’s no way to tell whether or not he actually saw me.
So finally yesterday morning, I stole an hour to go see him. Running on the sidewalk towards the park, I saw two ospreys sitting on street lights in front of me. They were turned towards the sun, their backs towards me.
The one closest to the park entrance was Papa osprey. He was a little wet, but had no fish. I was delighted to see him! And he didn’t seem terrified seeing me either. He said something short, one syllable only. Like “hey”. That made my day and I greeted him as well. After an appropriate time, I continued towards the other street light to see if the osprey with a fish was papa’s old pal Stanley or his newer pal Steve .
But before I reached that light, I heard osprey talk from the forest at the East border of the park. Steve was having a loud monologue on the dead palm trunk, sometimes also favored by P.O.
So the third osprey was likely to be Papa’s fishing pal, Stanley. I was right. And what a scary fish he’d caught! Check it out, huge teeth. Stanley looked at it somewhat warily as well, don’t you think?
I marveled at seeing all three ospreys together for the first time. And decided to take a swing in the nature reserve, even just to run around the salt marsh. Passing Papa’s lamppost again, I saw him fly away towards the ocean.
After snapping a picture of a visiting Wood Stork and completing my run around the marsh about 15 minutes later, I approached Papa’s nest. He was there. With a fish! A red snapper? And he wasn’t even more wet than I’d just seen him. Must have skimmed the fish right from the surface.
This was the second time in the last one month he’s gone fishing after meeting me and then come back to show it off at the nest 😀 He definitely gets my Fisherman Badge!
I hope your week is going well. Warmest regards, Tiny
TINY LESSONS BLOG 
In awe of the Ospreys, wondrous.
They are amazing birds. The more I learn about them through my observations and otherwise (I’m now a member of Cornell’s Ornithology Lab) the more I admire them.
Hey!
Commendable him being a show off. Pride is a good quality.
He’s proud, alright! But I think he’s also honing his fishing skills to impress Mama Osprey who should appear here in the vicinity in about two months time, possibly already for the Holidays.
They are such delightful characters you bring to life Tiny!
Thanks Val! These characters are so much alive…I wish I could understand their discussions 🙂 And it’s about to get more exciting when the nesting season starts in a couple of months. Papa and Mama occasionally have some loud dialogues.
Wonderful shots.
We had a Wood Stork Convention at our lagoon last week . . . with 2-3 dozen storks in attendance. You would have had a field day snapping shots of them parading around like Groucho Marx.
Thanks Nancy! Yesterday afternoon I saw many white birds in the marsh here too (white pricks seen from my window), I’ll try to get out today and see whether more Woods Storks or Egrets have arrived. I’d like to shoot Groucho Marx 🙂
So stunning!
Thanks Cindy! These guys are amazing…and I had never seen them together like this before.
So good to see Papa Osprey and friends again. Thank you.
It was truly a treat to see all three of them together! I wish I could know more of their language 🙂
I think you already know quite a bit of it.
I know a few words…but they have a large vocabulary 🙂
Exquisite photos, Tiny! Love the conversations too!
Thanks Kathy! I’m trying to learn more about their talks, but there’s no reliable dictionary available.
😊
I keep telling you my friend that PO has a major crush on you! He likes to show off his powers of being able to feed his family. 😉 Big hugs my friend. ❤
😀 He’s definitely practicing for the nesting season already! Two more months…could be less now. I can’t wait until I can follow them as a family again. Many hugs ❤
They were glad to see you.
At least P.O. was, the others are still not too familiar with me. They are more curious when I arrive on the scene. And if I stay too long, they start complaining. P.O. and I are old pals 🙂
Beautiful and intesreting phostos. I often see ospreys also. It’s always a staring match between us, until I run out of time and have to drive on.
Thank you! Yes, they are not shy 🙂
These lovely creatures do cause us to look upward and onward. Thank you for creating this today. Definitely needed! 🙂
Happy you liked my friends, Carrie! Have a wonderful day.
Great captures Tiny! I can see that you friends the Ospreys are looking healthy and well fed! 🙂
They have full crops much of the time. So much fish around here, but I was surprised to see the fish with sharp teeth, never seen one like that before 🙂 We had an “invasion” by migratory birds in the salt marsh – over 20 Great Egrets and at least as many Wood Storks. Lively! I’ll post about that later…
Fabulous pictures!!! The osprey are such beautiful birds and I love the pictures you get of them…super photography. Hugs
Thank you Maggie! I’ll keep taking pictures of them and sharing here as long as friends like to see them 🙂 The nesting season will start very soon and we’ll see if there will be little ospreys in the spring!
Helen, check this out:
http://youreyesblazeout.tumblr.com/post/101959806547/filthyphil-an-osprey-in-a-dive
What a great shot! Thanks for sharing, David. The ospreys are master fishermen. Unfortunately our P.O. and his pals fish far out on the Gulf or on the intra-coastal so it’s difficult for me to catch them in action. Earlier this week, I saw one of them doing the “long skim” on the bay, gliding with his talons in water, but I was on our terrace having coffee…
Would have loved to have seen that Helen.