The Osprey Saga
The days go by, but I don’t see Junior catching his own fish yet. The other morning, I looked out the window and saw Mom and Dad both sitting separately on nearby pilings eating a fish of their own while Junior was sitting demurely on the nest site waiting for breakfast. Could the parents be purposely trying to drive him to get his own breakfast? Maybe. He’s gone all day now from the nest site, but he manages to be back for meal times and bed time. Typical kid.
Late August and early September is when adult osprey begin their migration to South America. So it won’t be long before Junior will be on his own. Eventually, he too will leave. Young osprey do not return to their birth area until the second spring, when they seek mates and start their own cycle of reproduction. If they try to return to their original nest or nest site, the adults will chase them away. Osprey can live as long as 30-plus years.