Osprey Juveniles on the Nest

I relearned a lesson I know but don't always follow
when posting blogs. 
Do the homework. 
Yesterday I posted photos and claimed the birds
were baby eagles.  I was wrong, they were juvenile ospreys.

I usually check all my facts thoroughly
but was rushing to post a blog, 
because I've not been writing or posting
as much as I want lately. 
Rushing and not checking = bad blogging. 

These are juvenile ospreys on nests built on platforms
near the turnoff from Route 15 to Grand-Barachois
in New Brunswick.  We stayed far away from them
so we wouldn't disturb them
and took the photos with a long lens.

Their parents circled above us and kept a close watch
over our activities.  We stayed in the car
and took the pictures from there. 
The photos seem as if we were closer
because I cropped the photos to enlarge them
after I returned home.

"Ospreys are dark brown above, white below, with white head, prominent dark eye stripe.  The juvenile has plumage fringed
with pale buff above.  They eat mostly fish
and nest near fresh or salt water. 
They build their bulky nests in trees,
on sheds, poles or platforms."   
(Quote from National Geographic Field Guide
to the Birds of Eastern North America.)

Lesson re-learned:  Do the homework,
check the facts and photos,
even if I think I know what I'm looking at.

Immature Ospreys on Nests

 

 

Immature Ospreys Sitting on Nests

We drove on Route 15, left at Exit 43 to Grand-Barachois, New Brunswick and spotted immature ospreys sitting on nests.  We didn't disturb them but used a long lens to capture these photos.  Though we were a distance away from the nest, we looked up and saw that we were being watched by the parent birds, who were spiraling lower and lower toward us. 

We would have stayed longer but felt we were intruding, even though we were careful not to get out and walk closer.  In fact, we stayed in the car and just pulled to the shoulder of the roadway to take photos.  We left, feeling grateful for the sight of babies.