The Osprey Saga

Week 18: He — or She — Is a Big Baby

Junior is getting really big. He’s over half the size of his mother now, and is working his father hard to satisfy his ever-increasing appetite for fish, which his mother still feeds him one bite at a time. He was awkwardly stretching his wings out the other day; it won’t be long now before his mother will have him flapping his wings to develop his flight muscles.

In case you wondered, even in hot weather, ospreys don’t need to drink water. They get enough from the fresh fish they consume.

Olivia is continuing with the nest rebuilding, hauling in twigs and discarding others. She even gets Oliver to help sometimes. The reasoning behind all this is beyond my ability to discern. In all the years I’ve known her, she’s never done this sort of thing. At first I thought it was only to make room for Junior, but there is apparently more to it than that.

Maybe Junior is a girl. Could she be trying to teach Junior something about nest building?

Thus continues Michael Koblos’ 26-week saga of the doings of his nearest osprey family. A 78-year-old retired naval officer, Koblos lives in a small cottage on the water, Home Port, in a place called Cobb Island, located in the wide Potomac River about 50 miles south of Washington, D.C.