Fledgling #2 Has Awkward Debut

First time atop the nest

As I was setting up the gear for this morning’s photo shoot, a crowd gathered to see what I was looking at. My location is a popular bike path that is becoming a bit crowded since the lockdown has eased.

Some who gathered are regulars who see me every day, but didn’t have a clue as to what I was viewing. Because of social distancing they didn’t stop to chat. A man on a bike pulled up and said he’d been riding the path for years and didn’t know the nest was there.

People want to know what kind of birds they are, and if they had chicks. As I got caught up in the conversation, the youngest of two fledglings perched on the edge of the nest and started flapping its wings.

I had just mentioned to everyone that the younger chick hadn’t even begun to stretch. It was smaller … appeared healthy … but I wondered if it was getting enough food.

At that moment there was a lot of activity in the nest. It was the younger sibling flapping up a storm. This was the first good look I’ve had at the youngster since it’s usually nestled down and inactive.

It’s definitely thinner, but has learned well by observing its older sibling. Female Osprey are larger than the males so I suspect the older fledgling is female and the younger is male.

About the Photos

Leaps, hovers, and flaps

The header photo was taken as I was setting up. It was a hurried shot in creative mode because I didn’t want to miss the younger fledgling’s first tryout. The youngster was unsteady, awkward, uncoordinated … and as I feared that it would fall off the nest, it leaped and hovered just a moment before making a safe landing. For the record, it took the older sibling about a week before it attempted to flap above the nest.

I quickly reset the camera and was able to capture the last two shots. In the side-by-side comparison, the older sibling has much thicker legs than the younger, but today’s observation suggests that both will thrive.

Youngest fledgling hovers above nest

Fledgling sticks first landing

Osprey siblings/First hatched (L) has thicker drumsticks

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