So far from home.....

Yesterday on my way home from work I drove past a small little marshy pond that is about a mile from my home. I have never seen an osprey there before, but there was an osprey hunting in the late afternoon golden sunlight, so I pulled off on a side road to watch and enjoy. The first plunge into the water was unsuccessful, but the second big splash produced a bright goldfish! He went to a tree to eat and my first thought was, is he banded? Yup he was! That lead to some jockeying around with the car in different spots to get a good view of the band. I found the right place to read the band and was surprised! He was a male from a nest that was about ten miles away! I wondered, have all his chicks departed on their first migration leaving him free to start moving south a bit? Hmmmmm. So this morning I headed to his nest to see what was going on. When I got there, I burst out laughing. It was choir practice time for these three female chicks, "singing" their cute little heads off. Seriously, what a ruckus! Ha ha. I guess that was why Dad was eating peacefully so far from his territory! Part of the reason for all the hollering was that there was an adult male nearby, but when I read his band I was surprised that it was not Dad! It was another young male that I had seen earlier in the spring at another nest before he was chased off by that resident male. This male was actually hatched in a nest a few miles away, so he is looking for a nest, a territory, a mate, somewhere near his natal nest. It did not take too long for the Dad at this nest to show up with a fish, that one lucky chick grabbed quickly before Dad took off after that other male. So things are still interesting out there! I am always curious about how far from their territory they will go during their regular daily activities.
I have also seen the single male and one female chick, still doing well. I did not see the male chick. Still so pleased to see this male, even tho now his behavior is just what every male would be doing. Just knowing all that he went thru and how successful he was at caring for those chicks alone, is touching to me. He will always occupy a soft spot in my heart.
I also visited the oldest male recently. I saw him drop a fish quickly for his two chicks last week and on Sunday I returned to try to actually read his band to confirm, but although his two chicks were still there, also facing each other and hollering, I did not see the male. I think he was around but I could not locate him. An adult male flew over once. I will try again. Some nests are empty, I am not seeing adult females at most nests. I still enjoy searching for the birds and savoring all the sights and sounds...wondering each time, will this be the last time I see them?