September 22….still here!

 We still have a few ospreys in town! I am so happy that our little friend at the Arboretum cam nest is still around. I always hope for about a month of parental care post fledge for a chick to slowly learn the necessary skills for independence….as well as to pack on the pounds before migration. The chick at the Arb has been flying for just over a month now. Whew! Many thanks to our new and wonderful dad there, who has done a great job of providing for his offspring. I checked a handful of nests over the weekend and was able to find a number of juveniles and Dads. A shift in the winds since seems to have carried away some of those ospreys but I found another chick and her dad yesterday, still hanging out together. I sometimes find those adult males remaining near their nests, eating a fish slowly with no one hollering for it. I imagine they might feel a sense of accomplishment as they prepare for their own journeys ahead. I watched one such osprey on monday perched in a dead tree, quietly waiting, just in case….and gazing off to the south. I will stop by his nest today but I expect he may have taken off. Still I savor each sighting.

I will begin stirring the pot to find some volunteer help with repairing a few failing nest poles in the coming months as well as gathering the data together to begin the huge task of analyzing it all to see what the big picture reveals about our osprey population. The work changes but there is still lots to do. These final days tho are occupied by my desperate attempt to locate one more osprey to watch for a few minutes or hours. And still, after all these years, their beauty takes my breath away. Maybe its something about the golden September light….I notice the spots in the eyes of the older adults, and the pristine perfection of the young ones talons. I try to notice everything….its going to have to sustain me thru the months ahead.