Osprey Tales

That-a-girl, Harriett.

Clutch Size
1–4 eggs

Incubation Period
36–42 days……………Mark your calender.

Egg Description
Cream to pinkish cinnamon; wreathed and spotted with reddish brown.

Incubation begins when the first egg is laid. Subsequent eggs are laid one to three days apart; clutches have 2-4 eggs. The female usually takes on most of the responsibility of incubation, seldom leaving except to feed. When she does leave the nest, the male takes over incubation until her return.

Female Ospreys do most of the sitting, depending on males to provide food. However, some males handle up to 30% of incubation time.

Osprey eggs do not hatch all at once. Rather, the first chick emerges up to five days before the last one. This arrangement favors the first hatched chicks which permits them to thrive in years of poor food supplies. In these years, the latter hatched chicks perish.

“I told you I felt an egg coming,” declared Harriett.

Harriett laid her egg today at 14:48:11,  +/- 5 seconds.

She sat on the egg for a very long time, but finally at 15:12:37 seconds she gave us a peek.

Harriet is very proud. Her egg is larger than her past eggs and its coloration speaks for itself.

Many of Harriett’s friends have responded joyfully.

Even the local feral cat was pleased.

“Good night,” relayed the Doctor. “Congratulations on your beautiful egg.”

Harriett did not answer. She must have been asleep.

Harriett’s nest 4/23/2015, 7:00 PM

I’m sorry I disturbed your nest last evening,” transmitted the Doctor.

“No problem, no problem at all,” Harriet reflected. “I knew what you were doing. “Why do you think Ozzie did not swoop down and start tearing you up?”

“Well I certainly do appreciate your understanding,” continued the Doctor politely as ever.

“Sure, I understand. We are partners, remember. Partners always understand. Partners have a special relationship with each other. Partners know each other’s thoughts without speaking. Hey Doctor, you and I have been partners for nearly 3 years.”

“I certainly do appreciate your thoughts on this matter. Yes, Harriet we are partners, special partners. We have been given special powers and for those with special powers, special responsibilities come.”

“Doctor, if you are implying I am not doing my part Saving the World or at least Live on Planet Earth as we know it, you are mistaken. I have many thoughts on the subject which I will share with you at the appropriate time. What do you think I’ve been doing in South America all winter?

Harriett continued:

“Right now I’m feeling an egg coming. Of course you wouldn’t have any clue what I’m feeling, being male and all. Maybe you should discuss the current situation with your Female H sapien.”

“Make no mistake about it, Ozzie and I can build a nest worthy of the Taj Mahal,” remarked Harriett. “And we can do it in 10 days no less!”

Ozzie, still bloodied from battle pumped up his chest and bragged about their nest too.

“I do what I have to do.”

“Neither a late start, nor a psychopathic Brute can stop me.”

Harriet settled comfortably in the bowl of their newly built home. Ozzie had brought seaweed, moss and lichen to make the nest “comfy.”

“”Do you like ‘comfy’” asked Ozzie.

“Oh, yes,” replied Harriett with a smile. “I like ‘comfy.’ I like comfy a lot.”

The two of them were acting like teenagers in love.

“Thanks honey.”

Ozzie was proud he had made a comfortable nest for his sweetheart.

The Battle of the Taj Mahal

Harriett is crucial in her supportive role. Whenever she returns to the Taj Mahal, the fight between the two males intensifies. It’s a tactic O&H learned when they fought Reggie Raccoon two years ago: She returns to the platform, the enemy becomes distracted, and Ozzie comes in for the hit.

Ozzie hit Ivan three different times during these tactical maneuvers.

On the 1st he hit Ivan from the blindside and left him with a gash just above his right thigh.

The 2nd strike was less effective, but Ozzie did tear several feathers off The Brute’s left wing.

By the 3rd strike, Ivan had caught on and was more vigilant. Just before Ozzie struck, Ivan turned and they locked talons for what seemed an eternity. There was screeching and screaming and feathers flew.

When they finally disengaged, Ivan flew to the river bank. He did not seem deterred and nonchalantly preened his flight feathers.

The fight had just begun.

The Brute recovered from his surprised beating. Surprise quickly faded into meanness.

Ozzie could see that Ivan was a killer. The Brute’s eyes were cold, cold like a shark’s. Ivan did not seem angry. He did not seem afraid. He seem bent on killing, as he leaped off the river bank toward our two heroes.

He came at them like a mad bird.

“I’m going to have to kill this bird” thought Ozzie.”He’s not normal. He’s crazy, not wired right, some kind of psychopath . . . I’ll have to kill him all right.”

Mother nature has no mercy.

“Did Hurricane Arthur have mercy on our nest last year?”

“Mother nature does not care.” The thought reinforced Ozzie’s conviction.

Once again O&H teamed up to do battle.

“Two versus one is a good thing,” thought Harriett.

But she was afraid. This guy was big and strong and crazy.

The Brute hit Ozzie hard and gashed the left side of his forehead. Harriett shrieked and came down like a hammer upon The Brute’s back.

Her talons were outstretched as if diving for fish and stabbed deeply into his flesh.  For just a second, one of her talents got stuck beneath the Brute’s spine. She had a split-second flash/vision of being torn to pieces, but she broke free and flew straight up to escape.

An instant later Ozzie came up from below and crashed into The Brute’s right leg and upper torso with all his strength.

O&H did some real damage. Ivan the Terrible once again flew to the river bank to reconsider his options.

“I don’t think he is reconsidering at all,” thought Harriett.

“I think he is just crazy and full of meanness. He just wants to fight. I think he likes to fight. God forbid if we can’t turn this psychopath away.”

At dusk, just before nightfall, O&H were back in their nest. They could see The Brute limping at the edge of the marsh, just in front of the Doctor’s giant nest.

“I should finish him now,” thought Ozzie.  “Mother Nature has no mercy. Remember?”

“He might come back tomorrow or next week,” said Harriett.

Ozzie fluttered up to the Taj Mahal’s highest perch. From there he could see Ivan the Terrible nursing his wounds.

“I should finish him right now. I can dive from here, at full speed, both talons extended and rip out both of his eyes.”

“Do it! Finish him!”  encouraged Harriett.

Ozzie was surprised at Harriett’s thoughts. They seemed uncharacteristic of her.

Ozzie stood perched upon the 9 foot spire. He could see Ivan limping along the marsh. He trained his keen eyesight onto the head of his enemy. He adjusted for what he was about to do, for the wind velocity.

“One devastating strike, talons outstretched at full velocity. Then it will be finished.”

“Do it!”, squawked Harriett once again.

Ozzie stood on the 9 foot spire, contemplated his anthropomorphic morality, then he did what he had, or had not, to do.

 
It’s not the size of the Osprey in the fight, but the size of the fight in the Osprey.

An inexperienced Ozzie flew straight into Ivan’s outstretched talons. They ripped the feathers off the left side of his forehead. He realized he had been lucky and that he must control his rage. Ozzie made a stupendous back flip aerial dive and like an arrow came up from below.

Harriett:

“When love is a unique relationship between two irreplaceable birds, comparison, competition, & replacement are impossible. When we become utterly unique avian beings, no other bird can ever replace us in our loving relationship. As we love more authentically, jealousy disappears.”

Ivan:

Ivan, single, and driven by young adult promiscuity, flew across the North River marsh. He spied Harriett as she was rearranging her nest in preparation for Ozzie’s next delivery. Make no mistake about it, Ivan is a bad actor. He has no scruples. And there was Harriett, alone, attractive as ever, setting up home in the Taj Mahal. It’s no surprise he chose their nest to attack this afternoon.

Ozzie:
“Oh yeah, Harriett. Those are nice words, but those nice words won’t keep that pervert from sharing a nest with you!”

The thought of that stranger in his nest with Harriett made him sick. Blindly furious, deliriously possessed, Ozzie set off to fight. Sometimes a character flaw exist for purpose.

The Battle
The battle took place Sunday. It wasn’t just a fight between the two males; Harriett fought alongside Ozzie the entire time.

The two males jockeyed for position for prolonged periods of time. Every 10-15 minutes one of the males would attack the other, but little damage seemed to occur. It looked like whoever could get an aerodynamic advantage, he would pecked the other.

“Peck?” Thought the Doctor.

“Is this just posturing and intimidation? Or is this a real life struggle?”

The fight was a rare spectacle for the Doctor and his female H sapien.

The Doctor caught bits of it on his new camera. He has a new lens, as you might suspect from these images.

The female H. sapien, that lives with the Doctor in his giant nest, on the bank of the North River, captured video images with her cell phone.

What will Harriett do if Ivan prevails?

Harriett doesn’t want to think about it. She does not have time to think about it. She is fully, actively engaged in the battle.

Coming up next: The Battle of The Taj Mahal…

The Intruder

“This morning, Sunday, Ivan the Terrible intruded into our domain once again.
He made a wide circle around the Taj Mahal, about ½ mile away. I could feel the early rumblings deep within Ozzie.

It’s scary to talk about. Ozzie has always kept it under control, well contained and under close guard. Just thinking about the unleashing of his insanely, irrational fury causes me to take a deep breath and exhale slowly through pursed beak.

This could turn into a bad situation.”

“Take it easy,” whispered Harriett.

But Ozzie could not take it easy. He watched Ivan the Terrible trespassing upon his newly declared fishing grounds and it made his neck feathers rise. Harriett kept as low a profile as possible. She was very much afraid The Brute might try to make eye contact. If Ozzie saw this, she knew it could trigger the unleashing of the monster.

The Brute is a big bird. He outweighs Ozzie by at least 3 pounds. Plus he has spent most of this infamous 5 years fighting and usually getting his way. Harriett breathed deeply. She knows the intensity of Ozzie’s jealousy. She is hoping that this situation might have a nonviolent resolution.

Sorry Harriett; Ivan the Terrible is clearly interested in you.

Oh, no!

Ozzie sees it. This is not going to be pretty.

Three’s a Crowd

“What’s going on out there?” The Doctor asked Harriett. “Who is that interloper?”
Harriet did not want to say, but she felt she must respond; you know, the Taj Mahal and everything. So, she sent a few telepathic thoughts his way. A quick summary:

“This particular bird is a large osprey who carries a bad reputation. He’s well known up and down the coast of North Carolina. His name is Ivan, sometimes known as Ivan the Terrible or The Brute.”

Ivan The Terrible

“Two years ago at the Cape Lookout lighthouse he broke up the home of a sweet, young couple on their first migration North. Rumor has it he killed that young osprey, although some say he barely escaped with his life and was able to find another mate. Last year he drove an older couple from their nest and settled there alone for the entire summer. Some say Ivan the Terrible is just not wired right. Word has it he is some kind of psychopath to be avoided at all cost.

Which brings us back to Ozzie’s weakness. To put it bluntly, if this guy even hints at an interest in me, Ozzie’s blood will boil. And now we have Ivan the Terrible flying around our Taj Mahal. This could be a recipe for disaster. I’m worried!”

“What can I do to help?” Thought back the Doctor”

There’s nothing you can do” Harriett responded.

“I can go buy a gun,” the Doctor’s brain waves were becoming erratic.

No, no, no! Stay out of this. This is our problem, nature’s problem, and we shall deal with it ourselves.”

When the female H. sapien heard of Harriett’s thought transfers, she also urged the Doctor to stay out of it.

“Ozzie has an Achilles’ talon,” says Harriett. “He tries to keep it secret, but of course I know.”

“You know, and I know, Ozzie is an enormously, caring, respectable and loving bird. He is rational, thoughtful and conscientiously lives up to his values. Only I know of this weakness. Ozzie also knows of it.”

“Why I have it, I know not why,” he once told me.
“Self-confidence? Insecurity? I really don’t know.”
“But I know it’s there and I do not want it to be hurtful, especially to you Harriett.”

“Ozzie knows it is dangerous and potentially uncontrollable. Sometimes I have to be careful not to awaken it.  Generally Ozzie has no problem living and interacting socially, and to any other osprey he presents as a well-adjusted upstanding member of the species. He is dignified in his comportment and mien. No one would ever suspect the Green Monster that he hides so skillfully.

I’ve never seen it fully unleashed, thank goodness, because I suspect it would not be a pretty sight. I’m worried about this interloper hanging around our platform. I think it may be Ivan. Ivan, “The Brute”, could easily awaken the monster, unleashing Ozzie’s volatile jealousy with all its blinding fury.”

I don’t want it to happen.”

(But it does)

To be continued…