Wings of Summer

July 31, 2023

Wings of Summer

Today Livy is sprawled out next to me on the sofa. It is far too hot and humid to do anything outside. Here in CT a heat index of 104 is far from normal so it's indoors for us.

In fact, knowing this weather was coming, I intentionally mowed the lawn late yesterday to get that done at least. When I mowed though, I kept getting hit in the head by the low branches on several of our bushes...and it hurt! So when I finished, I told the Pres tomorrow I'm trimming a few bushes...the Rose of Sharons, the Forsythia, and your damn nut trees! That was the plan.

Since it's too hot to do any yard work like trimming bushes, my plan went South, so to speak. So, I decided to hop in the car with Livy and take a ride to check on two of the closest Osprey nests. The juveniles have all fledged successfully from each of the four nests I monitor this year but since they aren't yet fishing on their own, they depend on the adults to drop fish at the nest for them. Hence, they are usually close to the nest if not in the nest when they are hungry.

The first nest we checked in on was, as you can see, perfectly normal...three juveniles (two near the rim and one in nest), however, at the second nest I was in for a big surprise...something I never would have expected.

The second nest is located on a cell tower...several hundred feet high and 260 yards away, so trying to get decent photos is challenging. It's my own fault. You see, knowing that the season will be over soon, I've put away the spotting scope and tripod, so my binoculars and camera were/are my only resources.

From my vantage point, looking at the tower with the naked eye, it seemed "normal". After all, I could tell that those were three juveniles based on their size and with the help of my binoculars, their plumage. However, when I zoomed in with the camera I kept seeing something and the longer I remained focused the on the nest, the more I saw something moving in the far right corner of the nest. Quite honestly I thought it was one of the adults enjoying supper with the kids. But, the more I watched, I realized I was wrong. That was not the color and shape of an adult Osprey. It was the very distinct head of an adult Bald Eagle!

This photo is really terrible because I zoomed in way too far with the camera, then blew it up on my laptop too. Yet, the movement I was seeing in the nest was a BALD EAGLE eating the fish that the adult male had just dropped off for the kids!! After all, Eagles are opportunistic.

WOW! Another unique and very interesting observation made in the world that I'm so proud to be part of! After twelve years of observing Bald Eagles, this was a first for me. I've seen them relentlessly chase an Osprey for a freshly caught fish, gaining ground with each magnificent wing beat, then when the Osprey tired and dropped the fish, the Bald Eagle swooped down beneath the Osprey to snatch it out of the air.