When it comes to choosing a nesting site, Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge seem to be opportunistic. Some lucky couples are able to snag pre-existing nesting sites that require only minor improvements, while others are forced to build entirely new nests.
This past Thursday I photographed a nest that is annually built on top of one of the duck hunting blinds in the waters off of the wildlife refuge. Earlier in the season, the ospreys would fly away as I walked by on a trail, but now that the trees are leafing out, the ospreys have a bit more privacy.
The nest in the second image is a new nest, built in the last couple of weeks and probably still under construction. It is adjacent to the location where the nest in the third shot used to be. For reasons that are not clear to me, that nesting platform has disappeared and only a part of the post remains. I believe that the new nest may have been built by the couple that occupied that nesting platform earlier in the season.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
There are a couple of osprey nests along the straits off the island where we are anchored. There are so messy but the ospreys keep using them year after year and add to it with branches and greenery. They are amazing! That nest with the long twigs in your last image is spectacular, Mike!
Pretty good carpenters.
Nice!
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.