Florida 2025
DAY 23 - 3 April
Mum and chick
All about Ospreys
04/04/2025
Before breakfast this morning we visited another wildlife refuge but it did not live up to expectations. Two local photographers told us that the amount of wildlife had diminished greatly since Hurricane Ian. However, the getting up early was not wasted as we found a rookery along the road to the refuge. Unfortunately you cannot park on the side of the road anywhere on Sanibel. Shames as there were hundreds of birds of all kinds.
There was a car park nearby but we have found it. impossible to buy a ticket in the US car parks. It is a nightmare! They will not accept an English telephone number! Grrrrrrr!
So we went to breakfast. The most varied breakfast place we have found with something other than fried stuff, like half a melon filled with fruit - lovely!
We thought we would do another run around the JN Darling Refuge - just in case. We went to have another look at our favourite Osprey nest. At first we thought the chicks had gone but they turned out to still be in residence. Also watching them was a delightful Canadian couple, he obviously a very keen photographer. I learned various things about Ospreys - how to tell male from female, the male’s eating habits. He was fascinating. She was the only person, apart from Alison, that I have talked to about Trump.
We ended up staying with the Ospreys for about an hour. The chicks are almost as big as the parent. Their wings are huge. The mother was calling for her mate. He had obviously gone off hunting but had not returned. She went off every now and again but came back with nothing. She was obviously distressed. Eventually we moved bed on but once we got to the end of the refuge we decided to go around again, just to see if they were okay. Her mate had obviously been back as she was tearing something up and feeding it to the chicks. Thank goodness for that. I hated to think she had been deserted.
It has been a very nature day today, who would have thought we would spend so much time watching birds. A long lens would have come in handy but I am still pleased with my pic today of the female (left) and one of the chicks.
We plan to visit the Edison Ford Museum in Fort Myers tomorrow.
There was a car park nearby but we have found it. impossible to buy a ticket in the US car parks. It is a nightmare! They will not accept an English telephone number! Grrrrrrr!
So we went to breakfast. The most varied breakfast place we have found with something other than fried stuff, like half a melon filled with fruit - lovely!
We thought we would do another run around the JN Darling Refuge - just in case. We went to have another look at our favourite Osprey nest. At first we thought the chicks had gone but they turned out to still be in residence. Also watching them was a delightful Canadian couple, he obviously a very keen photographer. I learned various things about Ospreys - how to tell male from female, the male’s eating habits. He was fascinating. She was the only person, apart from Alison, that I have talked to about Trump.
We ended up staying with the Ospreys for about an hour. The chicks are almost as big as the parent. Their wings are huge. The mother was calling for her mate. He had obviously gone off hunting but had not returned. She went off every now and again but came back with nothing. She was obviously distressed. Eventually we moved bed on but once we got to the end of the refuge we decided to go around again, just to see if they were okay. Her mate had obviously been back as she was tearing something up and feeding it to the chicks. Thank goodness for that. I hated to think she had been deserted.
It has been a very nature day today, who would have thought we would spend so much time watching birds. A long lens would have come in handy but I am still pleased with my pic today of the female (left) and one of the chicks.
We plan to visit the Edison Ford Museum in Fort Myers tomorrow.
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