Osprey voice

It's been warm, beautiful weather at the beach and outdoors is the place to be.   I was working in the garden this morning, listening to all the birds and watching a group of four fledged red-wing blackbirds frantically begging food from their parent.  Fluttering and cheeping like true baby birds, they were perfect targets on our grass for flying predators.  Luck is with them so far, they're all flittering around now, trying to learn the basics of aerodynamics over the water.   Among all the songs, a clear, loud, high-pitched "cheep-cheep-cheep" began directly above me.  It's a wonderfully innocent song produced by a big, powerful raptor: an osprey- a bird my logger/woodsman dad called a fish hawk.  These birds are awesome in the true sense of the word:  black and white, fierce face, powerful talons, graceful flight.  And they chirp.  One of those wonders of nature, I guess.  Many smaller, non-predatory birds have a much scarier call than the osprey.

This was one of a family of three.  They were riding a thermal, circling slowly on the warm air, getting some altitude over the lake.  Once ospreys obtain a good altitude, they hunt with their eyes till they see a fish, close to the surface, unaware of the havoc to quickly come into its life. Wings fold, head down, and blam!  they hit the water with a tremendous splash.  Soon the bird reappears, shaking rainbow beads of water from feathers, oaring with wings on the water, then getting airborne with his lunch in his talons.  If the fish is big and still struggling, there can be some interesting re-situating.  It seems like it's best to fly with the fish facing forward, not sideways.  So, in flight, the fish is efficiently repositioned to suit the osprey.  Rarely is a fish lost. 

The youngsters watch the adults and it may take many tries before they are as successful as the parents.  Not to anthropomorphize, but how frustrating it must be to see that juicy silver fish - right there - and then to dive and miss it.  Takes a lot of energy to dive and regain altitude, over and over. 

These birds are travelers too.  Osprey that have been radio tagged and/or banded in northern North America routinely show up in southern South America for the winter.  They loaf around in the sun but return to us to nest and breed.  It's a sure sign of spring when their chirping calls are again heard over the lake by the high school.  I don't know if many of those kids know how lucky they are to be able to walk out the door at the end of the school day and hear not only osprey calling, but gulls in the boat basin and migrant warblers in the wetland at the base of the hill.   I hope at least some of them look up (maybe quickly, so their cool friends don't notice) and grin.