The new male returned….

 Yet another interesting day where I don’t get as much done as I planned. I stopped at the single females nest…..no one was there. No one was perched in any of the usual places. I heard nothing, I searched and waited for an hour…..starting to get worried. Then as I was about to leave I saw an osprey on a water tower nearby…..I scope it and it was that handsome new male, eating a fish. Suddenly he chirps and flies towards the nest….but another osprey was flying towards the nest too and they both had a fish. They both landed…..it was Mom and the new male. But no chick. They stood there next to each other….no aggression….and then the male went off to a light pole nearby. Mom waited, looked in all directions…..she did not eat her fish. She kept looking for her daughter. After a few minutes she flew off with the fish towards the lake across the street. She flew a loop and then headed back to the nest, followed be her screaming offspring! She rounded up the kid. Then she started feeding the chick….but before long the chick said, I can do it myself and grabbed the fish from mom. Mom said OK. The chick ate. Mom watched. Then the male came to the nest with his fish! He dropped it and left. The chick looked at it and thought it was a better fish, or at least a bigger fish, and dropped the one she was eating and grabbed the one the male dropped. Then mom took the remains of the chicks fish and they both ate. Wow. So this wonderful new male is still around. He is bringing the fish to the Mom as a courtship offering. But the chick is benefiting. This is only the second time I have seen him, but that means he wasn t just passing thru….he is hanging around. He is a good hunter and always has a large fish. There is no aggression between him and the female. I am feeling kind of hopeful…..that they may be establishing the beginning of some sort of bond, and that if they both survive migration, maybe next year she will have a real mate. If this new male begins to think of this as his territory, he may be willing to fight off the polygynous male down the road. It’s still tenuous….but seeing him bring a fish for the second time certainly is a good sign. And little miss muffet is also doing well. Boy that was fun to watch