Ospreys nesting

We have some new next door neighbors, and they have lots of feathers. A very entertaining Osprey pair has fought hard to move into our neighbor's Osprey platform. They have  battled and battled the local Osprey residents, as previous unsuccessful other pairs have, but this pair had the fortitude to slog through the difficulties. We neighbors watched the dramas, the dog fights and the dive bombings and wondered how it was all going to end. It was some royal battling for prime waterfront real estate. The ending was pretty spectacular actually. This Osprey couple were run off by others. There were many fights in the air over my house for many days. Often there were more than four birds in the fight, as they were all cawing during the conflict. The conflict came so close to me while in the yard, that I heard the air over my head  being displaced by swooping wings. Then one evening I watched the same drama unfold, and it seemed that again the challengers had been run out of town....but as I sat after sunset watching the sky colors fade to dark, here came the challenging pair right back to the platform they were fighting for. They sneaked back onto the platform under cover of darkness. Pretty shifty, and brilliant. It was the charm that brought down the empire. I have not seen them challenged since they played out their espionage.  Patience and a bit of boldness brought them what they desired. We have a lot to learn from nature. If you don't succeed try try again...the old saying still  holds true.

As a pair they are quite naive. They have brought a grand total of three branches to their lair in the past two weeks. Pretty sad in the measure of Osprey nest building. Another pair at the ferry filled a five foot high by eight foot deep circle of piping with branches over this same period of time, and then like the Princess and the pea, they made their final nest on top of it all. This pair just sadly walks around their platform, or they sit on one branch and wail from time to time.   They are fascinating and huge. Initially they would leave when I approached the shoreline, now they are becoming a bit more tolerant. This is going to make great summer entertainment, like a soap opera performed just for us!