All,

I arrived at Chambers Bay at 7:30 this morning, hoping this might be the
day the Osprey chicks fledged. If not that, then I expected to get lots
of photos of adults bringing in fish. It was not to be, but an
interesting day nonetheless.

The male Osprey was a no show for most of the day. Five times before
noon the female left the nest and those of us watching waited
expectantly for her to return with a fish. Instead she returned with
clumps of grass, mud, or a stick.

At noon I returned to my car for lunch, and when I returned to the nest
the female was feeding the chicks, but I have no idea who brought in the
fish. At about 1:00 the female returned to the nest with empty talons,
but suddenly above me appeared the male with a bloody fish. There was
no more action until 2:30 when the male returned again with another
fish, at which point I called it a day.

Two of the chicks spent a lot of time jumping up and down flapping their
wings. At one point I thought surely one of them was going to get lift
off, but it never happened. I don't think it should be too long now.

At one point three Osprey did a fly over (last two photos of the
following set). I can't age Osprey but their markings are different
from the nesting pair and I wonder if they are perhaps last year's
chicks or at least non-nesting birds.

Ten photos documenting the day start here:

http://skygardener.zenfolio.com/p930684489/h19245dd1#h19245dd1

Although disappointing from a birding and photography point of view, it
was a solid success in every other way. It was a gorgeous day with a
nice sea breeze that kept everything cool. The Ospreys draw a crowd and
I met a lot of nice people today, including a set of cute triplets, two
of whom are identical. A surprising number of people think the Osprey
are Bald Eagles which I took as a teaching moment. I also saw Harbor
Porpoises and found a nickel in the grass.

John Riegsecker
Gig Harbor
jriegsecker at pobox.com

--
John Riegsecker