The other day my husband and I were at the traffic light at the Taco Bell nest. This nest has been somewhat of a disaster through the years — until now. It was a young bird I saw 3 – 4 years ago building a nest near Taco Bell on an electrical pole in the fall, when ospreys normally aren’t building nests. I watched that guy work hard. He was persistent, flying repeatedly to the woods (no quick trip) and returning to the nest site with twigs and other materials. Over and over.
The following year, there was all kinds of activity, but his nest burned after a storm. The next year, he built a nest on a platform supplied by Florida Power & Light. Nothing came of that. I watched, feeling helpless, as a mockingbird harassed and harassed the female in the nest. This year, for the first time, it looks like the tide has shifted.
Finally!
I know it isn’t a choice; it’s just nature: The osprey tried and tried until he was successful. He persisted, and when everything failed, he kept going. At the beginning, I think he was testing things out. I think he was too young to breed, but was learning the tasks involved in breeding successfully. He was on his own and had to fail in order to keep learning. Finally, his persistence paid off, and there is a successful nest this year. We can see at least one chick in there, and will be keeping an eye out for more.
So, we are observing the nest while stopped at a red light, watching how the father is bringing more twigs to the nest, and both parents are busying themselves fixing the nest, ensuring the chick doesn’t fall out, when we hear a man’s voice from the sidewalk nearby. He has left his two small children — one not older than 18 months — on the sidewalk while he has walked up to the corner, several yards away, to get something from a woman. The youngest of his two children is literally sitting on the sidewalk next to a very busy road. The other is in the stroller wiggling around. The father is yelling at them to stay put. Within seconds, one of those children could have moved just two feet to the side and been in the road, where cars travel between 40 and 60 mph. Before the light turned green, the man was walking back to his children, but still too far from them to have prevented them from entering traffic had they decided to do so. When the light changed, we passed the opreys who were being so careful to ensure that their young wouldn’t fall out of the nest.
I have watched in awe as these birds — from various nests — have devoted so much effort to caring for their young, sitting in the hot sun day after day, hunting for food not only for themselves but for their babies. I have watched as they spur on the young to leave the nest, the parents sitting on a nearby branch coaxing the young birds out. The parents stay around not only until the young can fly, but until they can hunt successfully. It is only then, unless a parent is totally exhausted, that the older birds leave, allowing the young to start out on their own and continue the cycle. It is a beautiful thing to see fledglings circling the sky above, almost as if celebrating independence, and hear all the communication among them and between them and their parents.
Easing away from the nest onto a limb — all in safety — 2009 or 2010
Learning to fly
Osprey Diaries 