Wordless Wednesday

Florida Bay Mornings

It is 6 AM and I am wide awake. Try as I might I can't seem to get back to sleep. I give up and decide that I might as well get up and make a cup of coffee and have my devotions on the lanai as the sun comes up. Since we face west, I will not actually see the sun peek over the horizon but I know from past mornings that the sky will turn beautiful shades of pink, lavender and salmon before the sunshine finally fills the sky. This morning there are several puffy white clouds as well which remind me of pink cotton candy as they reflect the morning sun.

As beautiful as that scene is, it is only enhanced by the arrival of an osprey who is hunting for his best fishing spot to catch his breakfast. He has to share it with a white heron or crane who is delicately wading through the waters on shore on his long spindly legs, pausing now and then to wait for a passing fish.

The osprey perches on a springy palm branch on the tree in front of our condo. He sits quietly and watches for an easy catch. Not satisfied, after a few minutes he flies to a palm tree to the right of me almost out of sight. I can see him if I lean forward. He sits patiently. Waiting. Waiting.

Suddenly he swoops down to a spot in shallow water right in front of me and struggles in the water. I imagine claws wrapped around a nice juicy mullet in the water. The osprey flaps his wings and flounders in the water. They are not birds that land in the water and float as the pelicans, terns and cormorants do. Water sprays up in the struggle and finally the osprey takes off.

I look expectantly  to his claws but they are empty. Poor guy. The fish won this round. I know the feeling. Too often I am actually feeding fish rather than catching fish.

The osprey flies off, I assume, to another spot or to dry his wings or both. He certainly can't go back to the nest empty handed. I can only imagine the squawk of mate and offspring. Luckily no one depends upon me to put fish on the table.

A Last Look At Mama Osprey

Two weeks ago we made a pass by the osprey nest we watch each year near Key Largo. Mama was sitting on the nest but we saw no little ones. We'd heard there were some in the nest but it was raining and I think she may have been sheltering them from the rain.

As we made our way past the nest on our trip north heading home, we stopped for a last look at the nest and were rewarded with at least one young one. It looked to be a osprey teenager, still in the nest but looking over the side wondering when it was going to fly. Mama was nearby, still vigilant, still protective. Not too unlike a human mom with a teenager.

Hopefully the osprey couple will be back next year too and building a new family. We'd love to watch them grow again.

Osprey Spring Cleaning and Fishing

Anytime we have to travel north from Key Largo we stop at the place where we know we can see an osprey nest. Last year we watched some little ones that were hatched grow and get ready to leave the nest by the time we were leaving our southern nest for home. This year our first few bypasses made us think momma osprey was sitting on some eggs but we haven't seen any snowy heads popping up in the middle of the nest. What we did see this time past was some spring cleaning being done.

I thought at first she had a fish in her mouth and might be feeding some little ones but when I blew up the picture, I could see no little ones and there was a twig in her mouth. She was either remodeling the nest or doing some spring cleaning. Don't know that we'll see little ones this year. We'll keep looking though.

Another osprey that hangs our closer to our condo has a favorite fishing spot right in the little harbor the dock area creates. I was on the dock fishing one day and heard a big splash when I turned around, I saw the osprey taking off from out of the water. He shook himself as he was flying as a dog might do when it gets wet and continued on. I didn't get out my phone to take a picture because I figured he was gone. A few minutes later, I heard another splash and sure enough, he had dove in again. He didn't have any more luck than I did that morning though.

I did see him fly by on another occasion with a fish in his talons. And several mornings now I have seen him on his perch near the water waiting for his moment to swoop down. There is a tall palm tree near the water's edge and he surveys the fishing possibilities from there. I'll stick to fishing from the dock though.

Osprey Mama

There is a nest high on the top of a pole that is for an osprey family. We watched the nest last year and saw several youngsters. When we needed to go north to pick up a grandchild for their stay at the condo with Grandma and Grandpa, we decided to check it out and see if there was anything going on this year.

The nest is right next to an exit off of US1. If you drive off on the exit and go half way up the ramp to get back on, you can actually look down on the nest. You really need binoculars or a telescopic lens on your camera to make out the birds in the nest.

Mama osprey was sitting on the nest so I'm guessing in a few weeks we will see some furry heads bobbing around in there waiting for the busy parents to feed them. We'll keep watch.

Osprey Teenagers

On our way home from Key Largo last week we made one more stop at the osprey nest that we've been watching all winter from the Overseas Highway. The little ones aren't so little any more. They're more like teenagers. I'm sure Mom Osprey is kept busy trying to keep them fed. Anyone with a teenager knows how much they eat! Here's the last of our pictures. Can't wait to see what the nest will hold next year.

When Is An Osprey Not An Osprey?

Several years ago we rented our first condo in Florida and it happened to be near an osprey nest. It was fascinating watching the comings and goings of the inhabitants. The nests are huge and are all over the Florida Keys. Many of them are actually on tall posts that have been specifically placed for the osprey to nest on. I'm guessing it's to encourage them not to use the lamp posts on the highways.

The osprey is also called the fish eagle, sea hawk, river hawk or fish hawk and by its other names you can tell that its main diet is fish. We watched one day as the osprey carried a wiggling fish to its nest to feed on. I'm guessing there might have been some little ones in there to feed as well.

This year we have met a fellow from Quebec who is an avid photographer and osprey watcher. He pointed us to a nest he'd discovered where we were at least eye level with it. On our way north to pick up our granddaughter, we pulled off the exit ramp of the Overseas Highway to check it out and sure enough, there was an osprey on the nest. Our friend said that there are several young ones in the nest but we couldn't see them. I think mama osprey was shielding them.

Another spot we were directed to was at a local hotel that has three stories and at the end of one of the buildings is an osprey nest. This one begs the question: when is an osprey not an osprey? Answer: when the nest has been taken over by an owl. According to reports the owl fought valiantly to take over the nest and won. The hotel personnel we spoke with says they expect to see offspring soon.

Nature provides abundant entertainment in the Keys.