Ozzie and Harriet are well as of yesterday morning, which is when this image of Harriet was taken. She’s been incubating very low in the nest, where only the tip of her head is visible until she gets uncomfortable. Then, she often stands, stretches her wings (shown here), shifts her position, and returns to incubating.
Some of the days are turning hot and sunny now, which can be difficult for a brooding Osprey in a high nest without shade. Last year, when Harriet got very hot, she glided down to a nearby freshwater pond, took a head dip and a gulp. and flew back up to her eggs, all in about a minute.
Ozzie, as always, is a good mate. He comes immediately when Harriet complains about invasions of their nest’s airspace. He also has been feeding Harriet fish regularly. Last year, Harriet sometimes got up and took her lunch to a nearby spruce when she was in the mood to eat out. Ozzie sometimes incubated while she was doing this.
As he did last year, Ozzie usually first eats the head completely off the fish before he offers it (often dripping blood) to Harriet. “Offer,” according to Osprey etiquette, usually means swooping in, flopping the fish into the nest while Harriet gets out of the way, and flying off.
Leighton Archive Images
Leighton Archive Image
A live, headless lunch seems like a fair deal – Harriet gets more flesh and calories, but Ozzie probably gets the most nutritious part of the fish. The heads of fish reportedly contain the most concentrated fatty acids, plenty of vitamins and minerals, and all those power-packed brains. Ummm-umm. (Brooklin, Maine)