As many of you know, Mr. Dylan and I have been stalking the Osprey Family for first baby pictures for a couple of weeks now. Yesterday at lunch time we finally succeeded. Dylan’s persistence to go to the dog park, for first time since my work trip this past week, paid off. We are all smiles.
When we arrived at the marsh, Stanley had just brought in a fish. Sandy was eating and feeding the chick, whose little head was sticking up in front of her. Stanley decided to fly up to the perch to have a better overview. He often stays at the nest or close by when Sandy is feeding. The provider and guardian that he is.
Sandy continued eating and feeding, but soon told Stanley that more was needed. You better go fishing again, she told him with determination. But Stanley stayed put.
We went to the dog park. When we returned Stanley had left. I wondered whether he had gone fishing or just to chill out a bit in his man cave. We walked around the marsh and spotted Miss Rosa.
For the first time this season she was there in the middle of the day, beautiful as ever.
At the far end of the marsh, we also spotted the older Great Blue Heron. He was walking confidently, his head high, inspecting the marsh. He is a tall, handsome bird. And, indeed, a great Mayor.
Of course there were some smaller birds flitting around as well. We spotted several European Starlings…
…and a very skittish Blue Jay. One look at the paparazzi and he was gone.
When we approached the osprey nest again, we noticed that the little one had moved closer to the edge. Unfortunately we had to ‘shoot’ almost right into the sun, but you can see that the chick seems curious about the outer world already. At less than three weeks of age. A future explorer for sure.
The baby had also discovered its little wings and was flapping them right in mama’s face.
The paparazzi are almost sure that there is only one chick this year. But they have been proven wrong before. What we know for sure is that this little chick is alert and energetic. It’s not yet ready for beauty competitions, but will be very soon. Its feathers will grow out and its eyes will turn from dark to beautiful bright orange. With these happy thoughts we said our goodbyes and walked home.
Reaching our front yard we saw, from a block away, that Staley was landing on his usual lamp-post with a new fish. Two fishing trips in about 90 minutes! No wonder the poor man looks a bit exhausted.
Much love from the paparazzi, the Mayor, Miss Rosa and the Osprey Family.
TINY LESSONS BLOG 
Thank you for the pictorial story on the osprey family!
We are happy you liked it, Peter!
The baby osprey is fortunate that Stanley is an experienced fisher!
Yes, the baby is very fortunate having Stanley as the provider. I believe he goes on a fishing trip at least five times a day!
Always such a treat, Helen, to see the little one/s growing and developing. I particular love the image of the expanded wings in front of mama’s face; just adorable!
Here’s to another season. Hopefully, all will be well for the Osprey family and all the creatures at the Salt Marsh.
Give a hug to Dylan; he is indeed a wonderful assistant.
Hugs to you.. 🙂
xoxoxo
I also thought this chick had discovered its wings very early! This evening Mr. D. and I walked past the nest again, but couldn’t see the baby. It was very windy and Sandy was covering the little one…to prevent it from flying away 🙂 D. says thank you for the hug! XXX
Aww, the baby is so ugly it’s cute. LOL
That’s right! All the ‘bones’ where feathers will grow are sticking up 🙂 But soon s/he will be a beautiful ‘toddler’! Hugs my friend ❤
Thank God for my these Paparazzi!!!!
Thanks for the encouragement, David.
Outstanding captures! Great job you two. 🙂
Thanks for your kind comment, Maverick 🙂
So exciting to see the new baby! Fantastic photos, as always. Looking forward to watching the little one grow up!
We tried to see the baby last night again, but as it was quite windy Sandy was covering it from top to toe 🙂
I know these wonderful moments with your Osprey family, will definitely reinvigorate your heart. There’s love in you for them… I heard of ‘mother of dragons’ Well, you are mother of Ospreys in my book! Great post and photos Tiny. 🙂 ❤
Thank you so much for your beautiful comment, dear friend. Sometimes I truly feel like a mother to them…I worry when I don’t see one of them for a few days or when I think something might be wrong 🙂 Lots of love for them ❤
Seeing that circle of life begin again always inspires hope!
That inspires me too…and we certainly need hope!
How wonderful to see that new little face emerge Tiny, another successful season for the Ospreys. Great shots, your new lens is giving good results. It must be great delight seeing the new family in action again. Hope you enjoy the spring weather, and get to find out the final chick count. Have a blessed week my friend 😊
It was wonderful to see the chick! It has been nice spring weather, but quite windy and Sandy has been covering the little one so I haven’t seen it for a few days now. My count is still one, but we will see soon. I wish you a blessed weekend!
Thanks for the excellent pictures of the latest member of the osprey family.
We are happy you came to see the newcomer, Susan.
Wonderful – and all your characters assembled for a story book!
Smiling. Those characters just appear, one after another 🙂
Such a fun journey, dear Helen! Thank you for chronicling the lovely unfolding of the new family and the reemergence of the salt marsh regulars! Such beautiful birds in a lovely natural habitat! 🌞
Thank you Carrie for coming to see us again as life at the salt marsh goes into a new cycle. I hope we’ll see other chicks too as the spring advances. Have a wonderful weekend!
Love that bluejay!! I’ve never seen one myself.
The Blue Jays are beautiful, but very difficult to ‘shoot’ because they move a lot…this one was very fast to disappear 🙂
Congratulations Helen on the hatching of your osprey chick, how fabulous – and what a beautiful display from Miss Rosa!
I forwarded your congratulations to Mama Sandy! And Miss Rosa says ‘hi’ and wishes you a great weekend.
Many thanks, have yourself a lovely weekend also!
So glad to see the new-ish nest is working out so well. And the photo of the newest family member, with that big squawk, is all charm!
Yes, the Osprey Family seems to like the nest. And it also proved to be safe when Hurricane Irma hit last year. The new baby seems to enjoy its home, but I hope Sandy will not allow it to come too close to the edge.
Yes, the Osprey family seems to like the new’ish nest. Most importantly it proved very safe when the hurricane hit last year – amazingly quite a bit of nesting materials actually remained in the nest. I hope the new baby will not get too curious though.
So lovely to see the new osprey chick already trying to flap its wings! Thank your for the wonderful tour Helen and great to see Miss Rosa looking so well. Enjoy the rest of your week and much love to you and Dylan from all of us here :o) xxx
It thought the new baby has developed well and quite amazingly it was already trying out its tiny wings…now Sandy needs to watch it so it doesn’t get too adventurous 🙂 Dylan and I send you all love and wishes for a beautiful weekend 🙂 Many hugs
That Dylan knows what he is about. I hope that he takes you on more well timed outings as I always enjoy osprey updates and marshian encounters of every kind.
Smiling. Dylan is always ready for outings. He loves to examine the marshians at any time of the day or night 🙂
The chick looks very lively — keeping mama and papa very busy! 🙂
Yes, it seems that the Osprey family’s whole life now circles around that baby 🙂
Those chicks are sooo cute. Stanley really has his work cut out, feeding the family. Kudos to him. 🙂 Love the Mayor’s pose. He does look very self-important. 🙂 Always a treat to see photos of Ms Rosa. She’s a real beauty. Hugs to you and Dylan. Thanks so much for the update. xx
Thank you for your visit and your kind comment, Sylvia. Stanley is busy indeed, yesterday we saw him fishing twice in about an hour! If the fish is too small for the three of them, he’ll just get another. I was happy to see the Mayor, and smiled at your observation…he was clearly ‘in control’ 🙂 XXX
Fabulous pictures as always sweet Tiny. Thank you for my Ms. Rosa fix I think she is so pretty. Was nice to see the Mayor is doing well and keeping up with his duties. That little chick looks to be quite energetic. The pictures of Stanley in flight are amazing. Hugs and nose kisses for you and sweet Dylan from all of us.
Thank you for visiting us and our ‘marshian’ friends, Mags! It was nice to see the Mayor who has not visited every day. Perhaps he has a family to feed right now on the ‘bird island’ in the bay. That tiny island has numerous nests, probably because the birds feel safe from the humans. Stanley continues to go on numerous fishing trips every day 🙂 Hugs and nose kisses from us to all of you.
The heron’s color is really pretty. I think I emulated it as I am wearing splashes of pink/fuchsia as well today.
Sounds like you are the spring mood…those are beautiful colors! When I came last week it was cold in D.C. Now I hope spring progresses fast and it’ll be warm when I come next at the end of the month. Have a great weekend.
You and Dylan are doing a brilliant job with your stalking paparazzi style. Wonderful to see the chick!
Thanks for your visit and kind comment, Sue. I hope to get new pictures of the chick this weekend as the weather is really nice. Have a lovely weekend!
Happy weekend to you as well! Xo
And no wonder the chick has gotten so big already! Must be eating a lot. Great to see our friends at the Salt Marsh are doing so well, Helen. I heard myself gasp when I got that first look at the chick, so beautiful. Your photos are a delight, my friend.
I think you’re right, the chick must be eating a lot as Stanley continues to do numerous fishing trips every day. Soon its feathers will grow out and the eyes will change…and it will be even a more beautiful young osprey. I just hope that nothing will disturb its young life and that it will fledge happily at the end of June. Thank you, Jet.
The baby’s adorable – in an ugly kind of way.
Smiling…the osprey babies are on the “ugly cute” side during their first weeks until their feathers grow out a bit.
What an interesting post, full of lovely and remarkable scenes, Tiny. That baby sure looks determined to get going!
Thank you Cynthia! The baby is indeed very lively, eating lots of fish and growing fast 🙂
Such wonderful photos, Helen!! We have Yellow Crowned Night Herons nesting in the trees right behind our condo!! How cool. So sad…a big storm came through last week and disturbed the nests. They have been busy all week making new ones. Love to watch them!!
Hope all is great with you!!! ❤ ❤
Thank you Lorrie and my apologies for this late response! I had not seen several comments to this post. I hope your birdies have completed the rebuild of their nests. All the best to you and the Night Herons 🙂 Hugs!
They are all fine! They get a little annoyed if we go out the back door…they “grunt” to let us know that we are entering their space 😊 The baby was on a branch in the most perfect pose against a crystal clear blue sky yesterday so I ran in to get my phone. He waited just until I had it ready to shoot…and then hid behind another branch! Photographing had been quite the challenge as the tree is on a slope that leads directly into the pond! I have had a vision of falling in trying to get the shot!
Hope all is good on your side. We’ve been having such delightful weather!
💜
Oh, we are so spoiled by this incredible weather! I hope your backyard herons give you photo ops without you falling into the pond. Much love
“Man cave”😂 You and Mr Dylan are so great! And of course the objects/the birds and your photos! Hugs and greetings❤❤🐩💕
Dear Anja, my apologies for this late response! I had not seen several comments to this post. Glad the ‘man cave’ made you smile 🙂 Many hugs from both of us ❤
Awesome ‘lil fella! In your first photos, I thought how great to see such a large surface to grow this Osprey family, and then to see the curious little one already peering over the edge?!!! 🙂 Kids!! Beautiful photos, Helen!
Donna – my apologies for this late response! I had not seen several comments to this post. The little girl has now grown a lot and still is very curious…going quite close to the edge of the nest despite the ‘baby gates’ Sandy has put in place. I hope she knows she can’t fly for a few more weeks.
Indeed, Miss Rosa is as beautiful as ever. It was good to see her again. The pictures of the little osprey are fantastic! He/she seems to have a lot of personality. There are advantages to being an only child. 🙂
Barbara – my apologies for this late response! I had not seen several comments to this post. The new ‘toddler’ has lots of personality and is very curious. She is observing her environment – including me and my assistant when we walk by the nest 🙂
Barbara – my apologies for this late response! I had not seen several comments to this post. That baby is now a ‘toddler’, still very curious. She’s observing me and my assistant carefully when we walk by the nest 🙂
Good to have this year’s baby growing up. A welcome to the new member of the osprey family. Wonderful images.
Otto – my apologies for this late response! I had not seen several comments to this post. The new family member has now grown beautiful feathers, looks just like a mini version of her mama 🙂 Thank you for your kind comment.
Don’t worry about the time. It’s all good. 🙂
Fantastic post and pictures
Thank you, Marylou!