Ozzie and Harriet, the ospreys, are back in their summer nest that overlooks Great Cove. For several years, these posts have documented the summer saga of the magnificent inhabitants of this nest. The retuning birds appear to have been the same pair of adult ospreys for the last six years. In each of those years, they’ve raised three offspring in their penthouse-with-a-view.
Yesterday, which I think was the first time this year that both ospreys were in the nest together, there was a lot of copulating going on, as usual for April. (See Ozzie’s high-flying approach below.) So, I expect that we’ll see red-eyed nestlings again this year.
Background for new readers: For descriptive ease, the adult ospreys in this nest are always named “Ozzie” and “Harriet” and their offspring “David,” “Ricky,” and “June.” The intent is to remind some of you of a certain age of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” That was a popular sitcom about happy but hectic American home life in the 1950s and 1960s, the times of my own happy but hectic youth.
That show featured Ozzie and Harriet Nelson and their sons David and Ricky. I name the third-born osprey for the month of the bird’s birth, which usually is June. If and when there are more than three surviving offspring, there will be new names.
I feel comfortable taking liberties with the gender of the offsprings’ names because the sex of immature ospreys is not obvious and even the larger size of the mature females compared to mature males is not always apparent. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on April 15, 2024.) Stay tuned.