Osprey Survey

Today's weather forcast was cloudy with showers, so I thought it might be a good morning to go for  a drive and survey the Osprey nest sites I keep an eye on in West Salem. Our last survey was made on March 15th, and the The Murlark Ave. site was the only one to have an Osprey on it.  This was true again today.  When we stopped to check the nest site the female flew in and commenced to cry.  Then Jeanette noticed a second bird circling and crying overhead. Zooming in with the camera revealed that it was a male with a fish, and true to Osprey practice the the male had preemptively eaten off the head of the fish.  I'm not sure why they both needed to be calling, perhaps some kind of bargaining was going on. 

female on nest

male with fish

It should be noted that this driving trip was made in the morning before Govenor Brown announced at 11:00 her directive for Oregonians to stay home. I should also add, that Jeanette did a good job of driving and stayed 6 feet away from all the other cars.