Yesterday morning was foggy and drizzly, but I checked my favorite osprey nest, as I have been doing unsuccessfully for about 10 days. And – lo and behold – success! Harriet, albeit a wet mess, was on the nest and chivalrous Ozzie flew by with a headless fish for her breakfast. (Ozzie usually eats the heads off his love gifts before delivering them.) As the weather gets better, so will the photographs; these birds can be spectacular in a clear, blue sky.
I’ve been photographing and posting reports on the spring and summer activities in this nest for about six years. There are certain established story lines: The male osprey of the family always is named Ozzie, the female is Harriet, the first born is David, the second born is Ricky, and the third born is June (named after the month of her birth). Yes, except for June, those are the names of family members in “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” the ‘60s TV sitcom. The sexes of the offspring, of course, are assumed.
Historical note: There have been two years in which four eggs have hatched successfully in the nest, but each of those smaller fourth-borns never reached maturity due mainly to bullying and food stealing by one or more of their siblings. We’re talking about ravenous little predators here who are expected to grow up in several months, learn to hunt for themselves, and migrate thousands of miles in the fall.
Adult ospreys generally are monogamous during the spring and summer and the pairs often return to each other at the same breeding nest each year from the different southern locations where they spent their winters. As far as I can tell, Ozzie has been the same bird since the beginning of my studies, but Harriet has been different once or twice. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on April 18, 2023.)