morning here sometimes arrives with surprises aplenty...

as an example, i'm lounging (as is my wont after a long work week) and
happen to look out the window to spy a beautiful osprey on the wing... not
unusual, but pleasant to say the least... about 30 seconds later, the pond
is quiet, apparently empty of most of the regulars as said osprey decides to
perch about 40 metres to my north...

he spends the next 30 minutes or so preening, watching the skies, watching
the pond surface, watching... he sees song sparrows, house finches,
american gold finches, house sparrows, cedar waxwings, more than a few
violet-green swallows, crows, northern flickers, robins, and eight-spotted
skimmers...

it doesn't take long before the pond is active again, as if they know he's
probably not a threat... the flycatching restarts; indeed, a few of the
cedars decide to race around the pond, turning a few laps before
disappearing to the west. a flock of female red-winged blackbirds doesn't
notice he's there, and start to light on his tree. this lasts almost
one-quarter second when, having finally noticed, they debranch to alight
elsewhere along the edge of the pond... a rufous hummer buzzes through, and
for once i'm privileged to see him from above as he's about his business...
several cedars once again grab my attention as they chase one of the
eight-spotted skimmers, and one of the chasers earns the meal...

on the pond itself, a wood duck hen paddles, and joining her from
i-have-no-idea-where is a hooded merganser hen... this is the first hoodie
on the pond (that i've noticed, at least) in about a month or so... the
woodie is without children, so i'm assuming they're off doing their growing
elsewhere...

i notice the osprey has taken an interest in what's on the air behind him,
and it takes me a few seconds to find an adult bald eagle Way Up There on a
Thermal.

photographs show a silver band on his right leg, and he scratches at it
frequently. the band is somewhere between 1/2" and 1" in width, but even
with a good lens, the most i can guess at is "508"...

finally, he decides he's rested enough, takes wing and heads west towards
juanita bay park as i'm focussing on something else and no, i don't remember
what. i do remember thinking it was stupid to take my lens off him, though.
(grin)

00 caren
http://www.parkgallery.org


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