Deja vu.....

I headed out on Saturday morning to check some nests, and then noticed I had a bill that needed to be mailed sitting on the car seat so I took a different turn to go to the post office. I drove past the little marshy pond where I saw the male fishing a few days ago....and he was there again! Circling above the pond, big splash and he came up with a goldfish. Deja vu! I reconfirmed his band, and it was the same guy, ten miles from his nests again. Isn't that interesting! That suggests that they routinely go quite far, to a small fishing spot that produces an easy catch! And if I hadnt gone to the post office, right then, I wouldn't have seen that male! I checked his nest again and found the three female chicks still there also....one eating a fish, the other two hollering. I also took another peek at the nest of our oldest male, 23, and he is still bringing fish for his two chicks. I wanted to actually re read his band but he drops that fish so quickly and disappears. I have hiked and searched and can't locate his hideaway. It is a banded male, with some spots on his breast, which is what he looks like ( I have been looking at him for a lot of years!) and who else would feed his offspring so reliably? I did read his band several times in the early season.
Today I visited our single male. I had seen him alone twice in the past week, and started to wonder if both chicks had started their first migration. Today I found no Ospreys in any of the usual perches. I waited a while, drove around, then went to get a cup of coffee and came back. Still no birds on any of the perches where I have commonly seen them in the past. Sigh. I was about to give up and was heading on to another nest and slammed on the brakes. Ah there was an osprey on one of their deceased Mommas favorite perches. I had checked it several times, so this chick had just arrived. She had a fish and finished it off quickly. She was silent. No food begging. Then she turned around and flew north, towards a lake where I think Dad does some of their fishing. I hiked around, looked, listened, but could not find her or hear her. Anyway she is still around and I suspect her Dad is also, but I will return in a day or two and see if I can locate him. There are so many other things I should be doing, but I love finding these remaining birds, even when it's difficult, and following up on the stories I have been sharing. Every minute I get to spend with them is savored. My curiousity about how their stories will end, for this year, drives me to continue visiting nests as long as I can find some Ospreys. It's not over yet!