I have waited
for this day for some time now. Wimpy
and Bruno -- a pair of Osprey
chicks living in the piedmont of North Carolina -- have been my
photographic subjects ever since my initial discovery of their nest in
June of this year. I knew that at some point these chicks would have to
gain their independence and survive on their own -- and that would
mean, at the very least, being able to procure their own meals, which
for Ospreys consists of over 99% fish. Thus, the day that a young
Osprey catches his or her first fish is an important day indeed!
Below are some photos of Wimpy and Bruno when they were still in the
nest; note that the parents have yellow eyes and the chicks have
reddish-orange eyes. Bruno was visible most often, while Wimpy tended
to remain out-of-view in the cup of the nest:
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
You can see that the
chicks became quite large before they were ready to fledge; near
fledging time they began to exercise their flight muscles in
preparation for the big event:
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Eventually the
chicks fledged, though they remained in the vicinity of the nest. Here
are some photos of them just out of the nest, and testing out their
wings for the first time:
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Bruno was the more advanced of the two chicks; he (or she?)
began catching his own fish almost immediately after fledging:
|
 |
That was several weeks ago. While Bruno has become very
scarce in the nest area (though I have seen him/her at least once in
the past few days), Wimpy has remained in the nest area, and has
depended entirely on the adults to bring him/her fish whenever he is
hungry.
It's pretty easy to tell when Wimpy is hungry -- he begins calling out
to his parents in a high-pitched shriek:
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
At irregular
intervals the parents bring him/her a fish, which Wimpy wastes no time
in beginning to ingest:
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
This morning as I
arrived at the nest site, Wimpy was finishing off a meal brought to
him/her by his parents. He did not appear completely satiated,
however. Soon he was surveying the nearby surface of the lake:
|
|
I had begun to think
of Wimpy as a somewhat lazy Osprey, far less aggressive than his
brother/sister Bruno (hence the assignment of names). Although
I've occasionally seen Wimpy gaze at the lake surface, I had pretty
much lost hope that he/she would begin hunting on his own anytime soon.
Today Wimpy left me pleasantly surprised. Not 10 minutes after
finishing his meal (provided by one of the parents -- I was not able to
determine which one this time, though usually I can), Wimpy took wing
and glided nonchalantly toward a
seemingly random point on the lake surface. Within seconds, and
to my utter
astonishment, Wimpy snatched a fish from the surface of the water:
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
I have no way of
knowing whether this was truly Wimpy's first catch, since I'm not able
to spend 24 hours a day observing these birds (i.e., I have a job...).
It's not unlikely that this was Wimpy's first fish, however, since I've
been observing these chicks almost daily since their fledging, and
this is the first time I've seen Wimpy even attempt to catch a fish on his own.
It's not a certainty, but a very reasonable likelihood, that this was
Wimpy's first catch. Note also that Ospreys are known to overwhelmingly
prefer live fish, so it was unlikely that this was merely a dead fish
floating on the surface (though it is of course possible; dead fish do
seem to appear with greater regularity when the water levels are low as
they are now).
He (or she -- sex determination in young ospreys is very tricky)
alighted in a tree within a small bay near the nest area to consume his
prize:
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Once finished with his meal,
Wimpy relocated to the nest tree to take a much-earned nap:
|
|
Upon waking from
his/her nap Wimpy stretches his legs and feet:
|
|
Here's a photo of
Wimpy
expressing (I imagine) his exhilaration at making his first kill:
|
 |
Here are a few
of the other critters I spied on these past few days at Ledge Rock and
nearby areas:
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Say Cheese!
|
