Sometimes Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) will renovate preexisting nests, but often they have to build one from scratch. This osprey couple that I spotted recently at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge was trying to build one in what seemed to be a rather precarious location.
I learned about the location of the nest only when I spotted an osprey flying by me with a stick in its talons. In my zeal to track the osprey, I neglected to pull back on my zoom lens, so I ended up cutting off its wing tips in the first image in which the osprey is delivering the stick. In the second image, you can see the nest-to-be as the osprey attempts to arrange the sticks. The final shot shows the osprey arriving at the nesting site with another stick. I like the way that the osprey almost hovered in order to land softly with its delivery.
I don’t know it the osprey couple will manage to jam enough sticks in the crook of the tree to be able to form a stable nest, but I will be sure to check their progress in future visits, as long as the wildlife refuge continues to stay open.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
These guys are amazing builders. I hope you can follow the progress, Mike.
Alas, the governor has issued an order that we are all to stay home except for essential business. To reinforce the point, all of the reporters are mentioning that violations will be considered misdemeanors and may incur fines up to $2500 and a year in jail. Those penalties will definitely have a deterrent effect on my behavior, even though I personally think my photography is essential to my physical and mental well-being.
I’m sorry about that, Mike. People have to exercise. I hope they clarify that. Our governor did make that clarification after his initial order. He said he was going to take his dog for a walk.
They opened the Windsor Locks Canal Path, but I’m not sure I want to be on it. It’s precisely 8′ wide with the river on one side and the canal on the other, with a steep bank to both.
Yeah, they did list exercise and dogwalking as essential, but I got the impression that they want you to exercise relatively close to home. My long telephoto zoom is heavy enough that it should count as exercise when I carry it. 🙂
Very Nice Mike! It looks like it is not the best choice to build a nest. It will be interesting to see how it works! Keep us posted!
I may not be able to keep you updated, because our state governor has issued a stay-at-home order except for essential business. Bird photography probably is not considered “essential.”
Great job recognizing the flying stick to the nest, Mike, and capturing the action. It does look a bit dubious right now. I do hope you get to follow their progress.
Whilst reading this wonderful post and enjoying the amazing enlarged photos a thought came to me. This Osprey is focused on doing what needs to be done, not on anything else. It occurs to me that I can learn an unintended lesson from this Osprey. Focus more on what needs to be done and less on what I’d rather be doing. I so hope that you will be able to capture more photos as the Osprey’s nest building progresses. You provide a welcome addition to the day that I am grateful to receive. Thank-you, Mr. Mike!
I may be constrained from providing updates, alas. The Governor of Virginia has issued an order stating that we are only to leave our homes for essential business. If they determine you are out for non-essential business, it is a misdemeanor punishable by up to $2500 in fines and up to a year in jail. I wish I could argue that my photography is essential to my physical and mental well-being, but I’ll be complying as well as I can. 🙂
Osprey are superb builders. I hope your usual haunts stay open.
We’re under similar constraint orders here, although we are still allowed to take walks in our immediate neighborhood. It certainly adds to the challenge of keeping artistically occupied. Happily, if I look hard enough, I can usually find more birds and spiders–and there’s always the seemingly- fathomless archives. There are osprey nests not too far from our cabin in MN, but it looks like it will be quite some time before I’ll be able to see them again.
I have plenty to keep me occupied for a while. My suburban townhouse neighborhood is not very full of wildlife, but I have already starting to photograph some of my neighbors flowers, so I can continue in that vein. Maryland and DC also are under similar restrictions, so the whole are is pretty much hunkering down.
I dare say that YOU provide a public service through your photography, it certainly improves others mental well-being in addition to your own. However, you cannot run the risk of a fine or a visit to jail for anyone’s mental well-being! There is a quote that has been attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, although in truth he was repeating the words of another man. They seem fitting to your present situation : “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Stay well, safe…and out of jail! Thank-you, Mr. Mike!
Thanks, Ellen, for your words of encouragement. We really are in this together, so everyone, I think, is being asked to make sacrifices in different ways. There are lots of folks who have had their lives turned upside down in ways much more significant than mine. Sure, I will miss my wildlife creatures, but they will be there later in the year or next year. I’m pretty sure that I will continue to blog as regularly as ever, though I suspect the content will be a little different than it has been. Take care and stay safe and healthy.
Great shots!
My sister has a platform for ospreys in Tar Creek behind her house. For years, a pair of ospreys have been painstakingly building a nest on it only to have it blown off the platform in a storm, raided by predators, or otherwise wrecked. I don’t think they have ever managed to raise a brood of chicks that survived. This year, the platform was commandeered by a pair of Canada geese, who later abandoned it, but the ospreys had already given up and gone elsewhere. It’s a tough world out there.
Wonderful info, Nina, about the challenges that wild creatures like the ospreys face–it sometimes seems miraculous that any of them manage to survive.
We change up where we walk. So far, so good. If you are stopped tell then your photography is essential to the mental health of your thousands of followers. Give them your Word Press account and then they may relent!!
Thanks for the encouragement, Molly. I think I can still shoot photos and write posts that show the beauty of nature even if I don’t go out as far as in the past. As I have said in some of my other posts, there is beauty everywhere.
Amen!!