Successful Solo Flight

Here is an update on the second juvenile Osprey I reported on yesterday. I went to the Reserve early this morning before our volunteer work party started to be able to check on the Osprey.  It was still on the nest, looking down on me in the parking lot, but then started a little crying and moved to the far side of the nest.  I walked around to the south side to get some photos from that angle, and then all of a sudden the bird was in the air. I wasn’t fast enough to catch the take off, or flight, but I did get this photo of the safe landing. During the next thirty minutes, the juvenile took three more short flights, each about five seconds long. We can now claim two successful fledglings from our nesting platform.  Credit for this nesting platform goes to Salem Electric who generously donated and installed the poll and platform, and have made repeated trips to install and repair the pilot’s perch.