Ozzie and Harriet had a busy week of spring activity in the wild: mostly copulation and nursery preparation. Both ospreys worked daily on improving their penthouse nest atop an 80-foot spruce overlooking Great Cove.
They brought large branches for the rim and outsides of the nest, some looking to be about four feet in length. Smaller branches and moss were packed into the inside, where Harriet will brood. Sometimes they would get in each other’s way, as you see here with Ozzie bringing in some home siding yesterday and Harriet hunching in expectation of a rough landing:
Several of you have asked how I tell them apart, since they’re not much different in size. Frankly, during these early stages, I often can’t, but I’m starting to be able to differentiate differences at a glance, such as Harriet’s white spot behind the eye. I think that this is Ozzie:
I do get helpful visual presentations from time to time – it’s Ozzie on top during copulation; all I have to do is try to keep them straight after that. That’s how I know that this is Harriet about to take off and in flight:
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on April 21, 2022.)