Northwest winds…..

Feeling wistful these past few days. I am finally able to slow down a bit and spend time at a few nests where I still had questions, or just where one of my many favorite ospreys live. The weather has been perfect, finally cooler, drier, and that September light is drenching everything in golden light. The trees are already starting to change color. I am finding some of those lingering chicks, usually females, hollering for food. I also find some adult males, chicks gone, but they remain in their territory with a fish, waiting to see if someone shows up hungry. I am visiting some of my favorite ospreys…..was so happy to find one today, all alone, snoozing in the warm, late afternoon sun, a fish in his talons. I started this year talking about him, the male who had sustained a fractured keel many years ago and who I released back at his nest after a month in rehab. I was happy to see him and to say my goodbyes today, wishing him a safe journey.

Believe it or not, we still have one chick that has not fledged! Eggs were not laid in this nest until late May or early June which is so late. I also believe this nest is now a single parent situation…..just a female bringing fish and still feeding the chick. I hope this chick will fledge this week, but this one still has a ways to go to be able to care for itself. Will this female stay long enough for that to happen? We had a nest a few years ago where the chicks did not fledge until the end of August and that male stayed until the first week of October caring for them.

I visited another nest yesterday, where I was able to see all three chicks with their Dad. All hanging around together, all perching in a dead tree, like a Christmas tree all decorated with Ospreys! Lots of vocalizing, flying to the nest, practicing some water starts. It brings such joy to spend time with them.

I also stopped at a nest where one chick was food begging , her siblings all gone. Her Dad showed up with a fish, landed on a nearby perch and began eating the head off the bullhead. I was engrossed in watching everything he did….ripping the fish lips off, tearing apart the boney head, discarding the guts….my senses were heightened…..I marinated in the sounds, the feel of the breeze, the warm sun on my face, the stunning beauty of his clear bright yellow eyes. I wondered at what point he would stop eating and deliver the fish to his offspring ( when he got to the soft belly). I feel so lucky to be a part of their lives, to be able to watch them and learn from them. I treasure these experiences.

It’s been a long challenging summer….I have put over 9,000 miles on my car. We have been thru some very sad experiences with injured birds, and I have had a lot of personal struggles. It’s been a taxing year….and yet, when I am watching some of these ospreys that I have observed for so many years, I know what THEIR individual struggles have been like as well. It often takes my breath away.

The winds changed the past few days, bringing strong, gusty winds from the NW….and I know this will carry away many of our friends. I will keep searching until I can find no ospreys, and I will enjoy each and every encounter fully. Life is much less interesting without the ospreys. I ponder what is ahead for each one of them, and for all of us.