The third egg remains quiet, still as before, unmoved.
It will not hatch.
Nothing more to be said.
Harriett is busy feeding baby.
Her mate has provided plenty of food.
This fish appears to be a striped mullet—a “jumping mullet,” as we call them in Carteret County.
Easy to catch.
Plentiful.
Our sole survivor looks healthy.
Eyes open.
Head lifts—drops—lifts again.
Beak open wide.
Harriett leans in—small pieces.
Instinct.
And this small life—
against the odds—continues.
Osprey Tales 