Osprey Feeding Time!
Originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.
While I was watching this adult and juvenile Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), I was hoping that the mate would return with dinner. I was pleasantly surprise when halfway through the two hours of watching the adult went to the far corner of the roost and brought this large piece of meat back to the near edge and began feeding the youngster. I was not really prepared for it and had stepped away from the camera for a moment, watching the pair only with naked eyes. I did manage to get back on the camera in time to get this one shot of the adult bringing the meat.
I’d like to take a series of photo’s next year documenting one roost through the entire season. The Osprey begin arriving here in March and April. They begin building the nests soon after. Osprey mate for life, but the males and females appear to winter in seperate locations through Central and South America.
They lay 2–4 eggs sometime between mid May and late June. Both adults incubate the eggs for 6 weeks. After the eggs hatch the adults share in feeding and watching the young for 7–8 weeks when the young are fully fledged. The roosts are abandoned and the Osprey gone by Late September or early October every year. In the wild only half the fledglings will reach one year old. Those that do survive will begin mating themselves at 3 years.
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