Osprey and young ones

Had the opportunity to observe an Osprey nest from far. In fact the nest was on a man made platform out in the sea. While watching and capturing them on camera, I observed a few things, like the head bobbing before they made a dive for the fish.

These head bobs are done to triangulate their prey. Very rarely do they miss the prey. After catching a fish they don't straight away take it to the nest. They fly around for some time to ensure that the fish is dead (or half dead) Most of the time, the adult eats a part of the fish before dropping them in the nest. (they too require nourishment)

After a fish is caught, it arranges its feet to turn the fish so it faces head first. This reduces aerodynamic drag making the fish easier to carry.

Once I noticed the male breaking off a branch from a nearby tree and placing it in the nest. Does this amount to "periodic maintenance of the house"?  

The rate of growth of the young one is pretty fast after a month as can be seen in this illustration. (courtesy) The body size is almost the same as an adult.

Here you can see an Adult and juvenile Osprey.

Before they fly out, the young ones try flapping the wings in the nest to get the hang of it.

Once they are sure about it, they fly off to nearby structures to practice perching, like this weather wane

Or to a nearby tree to sit next to the parent.

Often smaller bird species like starlings or house sparrows live in the underside of the nest (basement apartment can be seen at 5:40 in the video)

Eagles and Blue Herons are the enemies of the young ones. They try to snatch away the young ones when adults are not around. I saw a Blue Heron being chased away who tried to get too close to the nest.

I captured some of their movements over a period of eight days and compiled it to a five minute video.

The whole episode was captured at Chesapeake Bay near the boardwalk, (which was described in the previous blog.)  Lately blogspot does not allow replies to be sent to individual comments (or is it that something is wrong with my settings) 

The Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay was formed over 11000 years ago. Native American tribes centered their world around Chesepoic - the country of the great rivers. The Boardwalk existed as early as 1930 which was just two blocks long in those days. It was rebuilt many times after being destroyed by hurricanes. The present one is about half a mile long and is a meeting place for the local residents. I found the best time to click pictures was during sunrise.

People having their morning walk, some jog while others take their dogs for a morning walk.

Fishing enthusiasts would turn up early in the hope of making a catch.

There was a band (The Winstons) playing in the evening and I captured a part of their performance.

The young (and the young at heart) were shaking a leg to the wonderful music.

I found the energy level of the performers quite high as can be seen in the video. Found a peculiar type of tree opposite the boardwalk. Was it a creeper or was it some sort of parasite on the tree?

Earlier we had dinner at the Vaughan Cheese, run by Megan and Tyler. It was an experience in itself especially regarding the different forms of cheese.

Found a few birds along the bay like the Royal tern.

Trying to identify this bird

There were man made platforms specially erected for the Ospreys for their nesting season.

More on the Ospreys and its nesting habits in the next blog.

Earlier we had been to Annapolis and spent half a day there. The memorial that I saw at the city dock is the only memorial in the United States that commemorates the actual name and place of an enslaved African, Kunta Kinte. It reminded me of all that I read (about four decades ago) in the book "Roots" by Alex Haley.

Did some window shopping there.

Here were some recycled articles made from old cans in Madagascar, Africa, for sale.

Now to work on the Osprey video.