First day of fall.....

The first day of fall was a stinkin hot one here in Minnesota....90 degrees and VERY humid. Like a sauna out there. But still, I checked a few nests on my way home from work. The first nest was one that had a chick on it last Sunday, but was empty today. The second nest was the one that I visited on Wednesday....the chick was still there, easily found in a favorite perch of the adults all summer. She was food begging. Again, I hiked away from the nest in the sizzling hot sun....I didnt bring the scope. Too hot. Did bring the iPad to take a few bad photos. I circled around and then heard a commotion and knew Dad must be approaching.....she flew to the nest and he dropped a goldfish, and then flew to the same place where he perched on Wednesday after delivering a fish. She flew back into the trees and I finally found her secret perch, low in a tree. I was only there about 45 minutes...enough to be soaked in sweat and dragged myself back to the air conditioned car. I just wanted to know if they were still there, and they were...for those who wanted a photo, there is a bad one of the chick flying to the nest. Then I stopped at another nest that had been empty on Wednesday. Today there was a hollering chick on the nest, Dad perched on a nearby cell tower. He was snoozing, and I put up the scope on the car window, and noticed that while this chick was food begging endlessly, she had a full crop AND a while goldfish in her talons! Ha ha.....but still hollering. It's instinctive to food beg when an adult is nearby, even if they are not hungry! That may be why this male took off so quickly. He is the one I found fishing last week nearly ten miles away from his nest! At this time of year, I consider it a great day if I can find an osprey, and today I saw four!