Ozzie and Harriet continued to be near-perfect parents and their youngsters continued to grow very quickly since last week’s report. Below, you see (left to right) Harriet, Lucy, and David. (Ricky was at the bottom of the nest doing what he does best – sleeping.)
Shortly thereafter, all three siblings were up and jabbering, while Mom turned her back on them. From front to back, David, Lucy, and Ricky:
Nonetheless, there is a problem in Eden: the nest that we once thought was so large, now appears a bit too small for the full family to be comfortable, especially while the youngsters walk off their energy and flap their wings. Ozzie still delivers fish there, but he often can’t find a comfortable space and flies back to a nearby spruce top.
Ozzie is a courageous (and handsome) guardian. He comes to scream and attack whenever Harriet gives her danger call (usually when another osprey is near and always when humans and dogs are). He also acts on his own and threatens anything that gets too near:
All three youngsters now have learned to rip apart and eat the fish that Ozzie slaps down into the nest. But, Harriet is still feeding them choice pieces with delicate movements involving sharp beaks on the delivering and receiving ends. Harriet often has to turn her head perpendicular to the sky and place the scrap into the nestling’s open mouth.
Harriet still opens her wings for the nestlings to snuggle and hide under and to shade them from the sun. But, the youngsters don’t fit under her now, even though they try – most of their bodies stick out like an ostrich with its head in the sand:
From time to time, Harriet will fly off the nest for a break, leaving it unattended. Once, on a hot day this week, when she was gone a long time, Ozzie appeared at the nest and opened his wings as a partial sunshade for the sleeping nestlings.
When Harriet returned, Ozzie flew off and she opened her wings. (Brooklin, Maine)