Indomitable

Posted on July 19, 2015 by J. F. Booth

Last Monday morning Opal Osprey sat calmly atop one of the 60 feet-tall light poles surrounding the Naval Academy’s football field.  She leisurely nibbled her fresh sushi while below her six or seven workers in bright yellow hard hats waited at the base of her light-pole perch, leaning on their work trucks and  sipping coffee beside a crane.

Above our beautiful, strong osprey a thick cable hung from that tall crane. At eye-level, Opal saw an iron ball below which hung a very large and dangerous looking hook.  This cabled hook swayed threateningly in the morning breeze.  Opal moved only to dip her beak into the fish, finishing her breakfast at her own pace.       

I walked on, confident that Opal had this situation well in hand.

You may recall my last update on the two-generations of Academy osprey.  The elder pair, whom I’ve named Opal and Oscar, lost their first nest to an hurricane and their second nest to an Academy clean-up.  This spring, for the first time, Oscar and Opal’s son, Pablo, and his mate, Pearl Osprey, built a sturdy nest nearby, overlooking the Academy’s soccer field and the Severn River.

Since Oscar and Opal had to relocate after their nest was destroyed, I have no idea if they produced young this year. (They have not brought fledglings to the football field.) But Pablo and Pearl are the proud parents of two fledglings.

Oscar - Opal

Oscar’s handiwork in happier days. Circa 2013.

The new “blooming” LED lights.

But wait… their saga continues.

In a commendable effort to be energy efficient, the Academy decided to replace all the athletic-field lights with LEDs.  That meant the huge metal platforms on which the old lights were suspended had to come down from the tall poles, and in their place, the LED lights went up, like ice cream cones in a holder.

As the project began at the soccer field, I spoke to a worker, pointing out the nest and young birds.  I was assured they would work around the osprey nest until the fledglings were independent.

Well, two weeks later, as I approached the soccer field, the cranes had done their work and moved on. Pablo and Pearl’s nest was gone!  Where was the family now?

But wait, just as my heart contracted, out of the blue sky over the soccer field two slender osprey dipped and swirled, while above them, Pearl and Pablo used their distinctive calls to caution and encourage… or so I interpret their chirps.

Since then, I’ve seen Pearl and Pablo individually, perching on the soccer field’s new LED lights.  I think I’ve also seen the parents doing training runs with their fledglings over the Annapolis harbor.  I anticipate a new nest over the soccer field next spring.

But what of the elders? you ask. I can tell you this, our indomitable Oscar has already begun festooning the new LED rods with twigs and limbs.  He has turned the old-homestead light pole into a veritable pincushion with twigs protruding in all directions. This morning, Opal sat quietly atop the pole, as though checking out Oscar’s efforts.  (And are you asking how I know it’s she and not Oscar? Well, Opal and Pearl are larger than their mates.  Also, they are usually silent.  Oscar is a noisy fellow, always letting me know he’s overhead, demanding I look up and admire his fancy fly-by.  He’s a real flirt.)

So, all signs point to the two, and perhaps three generations of osprey family remaining in our neighborhood, part of the fiber of the Navy family in Annapolis. I certainly hope so.

Posted in Life Lessons, Nature, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Pablo & Pearl Take the Field

Posted on April 4, 2015 by J. F. Booth

I have hesitated to write the next chapter on our friends, the Osprey, residing at the Naval Academy.  I’d hoped for… I’m not sure what I had hoped for. But, here’s the latest…

Pearl and Pablo, the younger generation, returned from the south around March 12th. They found their intact nest and got to work fluffing the pillows and sweeping out the winter’s dust.

Opal and Oscar, the elders, flew in a few days later to a less welcoming discovery.  For the next week, Oscar and Opal worked assiduously carrying branches back to reconstruct their nest.  The weather has been cold and windy, and the osprey did not have an easy time.  The last time I saw them was the morning after a March snowstorm.  They were perched randomly, and forlornly it seemed to me, on the field lights overlooking the Annapolis harbor.

I have not seen them since that morning.

Pearl and Pablo, however, are flourishing.  I see them daily, sometimes swooping low as if to wish me good morning. They seem to have a clutch and share the duties guarding and warming the eggs in the nest.  Today, Pearl was enjoying her fresh catch-of-the-day on one light post, while Pablo called out in a somewhat annoyed series of chirps from his duty post. (She seemed in no hurry to take over the nesting chores.)  

So, what am I to make of all this?  Well, I’m so glad I saw Oscar and Opal one final time, so I need not wonder if they survived the return to Maryland.  I will think of them nesting this spring on a more congenial perch along one of our nearby creeks.

Pearl and Pablo are fine and carry on their parents’ proud tradition of familial devotion. Their progeny will delight me with their fledgling flying lessons and fishing expeditions.

Life goes on…  and around the Bay all of us, creatures great and small, are rousing ourselves for another go at survival and procreation and joy.

                           

Posted in Nature | 3 Comments

Osprey Update: Oscar & Opal’s Dilemma

Posted on March 4, 2015 by J. F. Booth

With only two weeks before St. Patty’s Day and the anticipated Oscar - Opalreturn of the ospreys to the Chesapeake, I am saddened to report a calamity that has befallen our old friends, Oscar & Opal Osprey.

The Naval Academy has cleared away both of the double-decker nests built by our intrepid friends in 2001 and in 2003. Not one stick, not one feather or ribbon or bit of detritus remains where two glorious nests once resided.

If  Oscar and Opal do return, as I hope they will, they will have their work cut out for them, building yet a third nest from scratch.

I did check up on the younger generation’s home, Pablo & Pearl’s nest, on the other side of the Academy grounds.  Their nest seems to have been overlooked by the “clean-up” crew.  So, that is some small comfort.

I will keep you posted as further developments unfold.

Posted in Nature, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Embracing My Second Childhood

Posted on February 10, 2015 by J. F. Booth

Yup, I’m here. I’ve made it to the second half of my sixth decade. And, as you may be discovering too, dear reader, it’s not all bad, moving into retirement, social security, and conversations about yoga poses and herbal supplements for aged bodies.
I’m embarrassed to admit that there was a time in my life when “over 60” was a pejorative phrase in my book. I dismissed others thoughtlessly with… “Oh, don’t mind him; he’s old.” or “She said that?  Ignore it; she’s in her second childhood.”
Now I hear that dismissive tone in the voices of younger people. I see expressions of pity slip across unwrinkled brows when I stumble or ask someone to speak a bit louder.
I’ve spent enough time, here, “over the hill,” to be able to draw some conclusions and make some decisions about my life… and my future.  Yes, my future!West side of Mt Desert 8-5-8 025

And so, here’s my Declaration of Acceptance, my manifesto – I am in my “second childhood” and lovin’ it.

  • Everything is waiting to be revealed. Like children,  for me everything is new and captivating, waiting to be discovered and explored.
  • Mistakes are part of learning. Like children, I am not afraid to try, and perhaps fail, and try again.
  • The feelings of those around me matter. Like children, I listen, not for objective information, but for tones and moods – humor and sadness, little signals that someone needs a hug, or a laugh, or privacy.
  • There is delight around every corner. Like children, I am not afraid to admire and express my joy in people and things both ordinary and exceptional.
  • Now is the time to have fun. Like children, I have time to play. I play well alone or with others.
  • Love is to share. Like children, I will love without reservation. (Broken hearts heal.)
  • Wonder is my natural state. Like children, I am amazed and awed by the antics of a squirrel and the rainbow spilling through a raindrop.  Larry painting @ Salisbury Covet 8-5-8

That’s it, my manifesto,  my seven guiding principles for the hours, days, and years left before me.

In The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama speaks about “basic spirituality — basic human qualities of goodness, kindness, compassion, and caring… as long as we are human beings, as long as we are members of the human family, all of us need these basic spiritual values.”

Children come to us with these qualities, and we can deepen or regain them when we choose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCss0kZXeyE

Posted in Life Lessons | 4 Comments

Begin Again

Posted on July 25, 2014 by J. F. Booth
https://i0.wp.com/0.tqn.com/d/dc/1/S/n/D/AerialofUSNAChapel.jpg

Note the tall light posts along the Severn River.

I’m back.

I am eager to share with you, patient reader, news of my friends the Naval Academy osprey, Oscar and Opal.

You may recall one of my early blogs, July 18, 2012, when I recounted the amazing saga of two determined osprey who have nested for at least 13 years in the light poles above the Naval Academy’s practice football field. (I have been walking their for about 14 years, and first recall seeing the pair in 2001.)

Each spring I enjoy the return of this beautiful pair of powerful birds of prey. They rebuild their nest, lay a clutch of eggs, feed one another and guard the eggs and hatchlings. Then, when the time is right, patiently the parents coax their fledglings out of the nest, over the harbor training the young to catch the fish that are their preferred diet. This couple I named Opal and Oscar.

Last year, 2013, another osprey returned with Oscar and Opal in mid-March. He lingered in nearby trees and perched on light poles near the nest.  Oscar and Opal seemed to tolerate his presence, and he hung around until mid-summer, when I saw him no longer.  I named this young loner Pablo, and assumed he must be a member of Opal and Oscar’s clan.

Well, the saga continues!

This spring, 2014, Opal and Oscar  arrived and began repairing their nest.  And, again this spring, Pablo, arrived soon after his parents. But, this spring, Pablo was not alone… at least not for long.  While Oscar and Opal feathered their nests, Pablo seemed to dally about on the light posts just north of his parents, near the Academy’s soccer fields.

Pablo is not one to be ignored. He often greets walkers and joggers with his high-pitched “scree-ee” that echoes out across the Severn River.  And we, unfeathered and earth-bound, are not the only ones who hear his lusty call.

Within two weeks of the osprey’s return, Pablo was joined by a lithe beauty I’ve named Pearl.  She is a quiet osprey, or so she seems to me.

Today, I watched Pablo perform for her as Pearl sat, statuesque, atop a light pole. As I passed, he screeched, soared out over the river and swooped low along the surface of the water. His talons caught a fish, and effortlessly he lifted fish and self high over the water and pirouetted, fish still firmly in his grasp.  He cried out again, triumphantly I’d say, and flew lazily along the line of light posts, directly past his beloved Pearl. “See what I’ve got.”  She didn’t bat an eye or move a wing feather. She let him perform his hijinks, knowing, I suspect, that the fish would be hers to dine on at her leisure.

Now, you might be thinking, how does this batty birder conclude that Pablo is, in fact, an offspring of the elder osprey, Opal and Oscar?

I really have been cautious in my anthropomorphism, chary reader.  First, I noted how the senior and more powerful osprey, Oscar, tolerated this young bird in such close proximity to his mate and to their nest.  I noticed that Oscar particularly would allow Pablo to accompany him as they soared out over the harbor and Severn River. Together the two male osprey raced along the water’s surface and plucked fish from the waves.

And then, a few days ago I had my suspicions confirmed, my doubts dissolved, my uncertainties answered.  I saw the nest Pablo is building for Pearl… and… it is two-stories!

You may recall that during Hurricane Isabel in 2003, Opal and Oscar’s nest, filled with eggs, was destroyed, blown apart.  But the couple was unbowed.  They rebuilt their nest. And, instead of placing the new nest directly atop the remains, they wove a nest on the upper Oscar - Opalbars of the light post, the very top.  So, when the work was done, their nest looked like a two-story bungalow.  (My July, 2012 blog spoke about their engineering feat.) Each year Oscar brings fresh twigs and leaves to both the lower and the upper nests, though the eggs are laid always in the second or upper story.

Well, Pablo may be old enough to take a partner – osprey usually mate when three or four years old.  But osprey do not, as a rule, build two-story nests.

So, when I saw that Pablo instinctively built his nest with both a lower and an upper story, I was sure of his parentage. He mimicked his parent’s nesting habits. He is his parent’s son.

Pablo and Pearl will raise their broods high atop the Naval Academy light pole, overlooking the Severn River.  They’ll probably never use that lower nest, but it will be maintained and remain a tribute to Pablo’s resilient parents.

Birder or birds, we live much of our lives in the patterns of our parents and grandparents.  How would I explain the way I weed my garden or clean the kitchen? They’re rote behaviors, and I weed and clean (when I clean, which is rare) mindlessly, following the methods and manner used by my mom and dad. Like so many things we do, the rationale might be forgotten, but the behaviors continue, silent tributes to our wise and patient parents, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles and caregivers.

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