Guardian Angel

 Another long day with some ups and downs….the day started out so gray and soupy….hard to get decent photos. I had to visit a nest where the monitor had reported a dead body in the nest. This nest had three chicks and all fledged successfully, but two of the chicks disappeared a few weeks after fledging….but one female chick was still sticking close to home. Then there was no one…..just a dead body in the nest. I went to look….the bird was face down wings out. It’s hard to know what happened but I suspect it may have been killed….we haven’t seen the male either…. We may not know until next spring if he survived. It’s heartbreaking.

I checked a bunch of other nests….saw some chicks, some dads and then I ended up back for a visit with the orphan and her benefactor, Daddy Warbucks.

At first there was no one there. I hadn’t been able to get back there for two days and thought they might have departed. I ate my lunch and then was gonna head to a little farm market for some tomatoes….but as I started to leave, the male arrived on the nest with a fish! He just stood there waiting. Looking around. He waited a good 5-10 minutes and then he flew to a nearby lightpole. He waited there too….looking around. It is so damn clear that he is looking for the chick! He brought the fish for her! I am so emotionally impacted by his care for her. He finally did eat the fish….and he was just snoozing when I finally heard the chick! But dang it….again….I could hear her and not spot her! After I moved my car and drove around I was able to spot her tucked in behind some leaves…I took a lot of photos of her. She had a full crop! Soooooo, had he brought her a fish before I arrived? Or did she catch a fish? I will never know. I even took a short video of her food begging. So both were there….and I decided to go get those tomatoes! When I got back the male was gone but the chick was on the lightpole. I waited with her for an hour….and then the male arrived with a whole fish for her and they both flew to the nest for the delivery. He quickly departed and she went back to the light to eat. This young osprey definitely has a guardian angel. He watches over her, he waits for her, he provides for her….with no biological reason to do all this.

It’s an amazing thing to witness.