I’ve read that osprey offspring will return home the following year. The other day my husband asked me, “Do ospreys celebrate when eggs hatch?” (We’re thinking some hatching has been going on in Nest 1.) He explained that there was a lot of commotion near Nest 1, with a number of ospreys flying around and making a lot of noise.
The following day, I was pleasantly surprised to see an osprey perched exactly where one of the babies from 2009 used to perch — a branch that seemed like training wheels to me, a little distance from the nest, but not too far. She had stayed there for a while until near the end of summer, when she left with her siblings. I wondered if this was her, back for a reunion:
One of last year's offspring?
There was lots of racket going on while she was perched here. I could hear one osprey (the loudest) off to my left, and another to my right. Then, suddenly, the one from the right swooped down, and these two took off together. Are they the siblings?
A sibling reunion?
Then I saw the three soaring . If these are the same birds — and I think they are — they were soaring just as they did last year shortly after they learned to fly. It brought tears to my eyes this year, too!
Celebration!
Ok, so I need a better lens!
Osprey Diaries 