As some of you know, for almost a month, we’ve been monitoring a pair of Ospreys that are nesting nearby.. We know them well enough now to call them Ozzie and Harriet, rather than “the male” and “the female.” At first, they were enjoying domestic bliss yesterday morning, as you can see from this image taken then:
But, unbeknownst to them, danger was lurking. Another Osprey, which we’ll call Brutus, had been circling high above their nest for several days. (When the first Ospreys arrived last month, there were three of them, two males courting Harriett; she chose Ozzie. Perhaps Brutus was the other suitor.) Ozzie always flew up and ran Brutus off before he could get close to the nest. Yesterday, however, was different.
Brutus power dived silently and unseen out of the sun and barely missed scalping Ozzie, who pulled back just in time. Harriett flew away immediately; Ozzie recovered quickly and gave hot pursuit to Brutus, leaving the nest empty. It still was empty an hour later. To be continued. Here’s part of the series of images taken then within no more than two seconds, starting when Ozzie first sees Brutus bearing down on the nest and Harriet leaves the scene::
(Brooklin, Maine)