As I keep mentioning as I post photos today, it was so amazing over on the land. First there were the great carpets of wildflowers: huge swaths of yellow, then blue that just dazzled me and made me laugh out loud, and even white, glimmering where all the vernal pools had been.
After I stopped gawking at the beautiful floral display, I finally checked out the Osprey nest but it didn't seem occupied.
Finally I was under what I have taken to thinking of the Fish tree, and looked up and right over my head was this beauty. I knew someone was about as I could hear the call when I first started walking.
On my second circuit, I walked over near Copsey Creek where I startled up a pair of woodducks who in turn caused a Great Blue Heron to fly up, so finally I was back on alert.
Amazingly enough, suddenly, there were at least three Osprey flying all around the area where I was standing in pretty thick oaks and brush. They were landing on a huge Oak on the east side of Copsey...two at a time with the third one circling and calling and calling. Then the birds in the tree would call and rise up and fall back. It was really an amazing display. It is possible that it was an extended family as I had been told that the male offspring nest close to the parents. So perhaps.
By the time I circled around to the nest again, the calling was really loud and one Osprey was in the nest and the other was flying around and landing and flying and landing again in the nest. It all looked pretty defensive and protective of the nest.
One issue might have been the pair of Herons who suddenly descended into the field, flying pretty close to the nest. They started hunting around the vernal pools and stayed until I got a bit too visible.
It really was a remarkable day.
Now I will post a couple more Osprey photos...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment