There seems to be an abundance of young male Ospreys out at Fort Pickens this spring. Yesterday I spotted at least three air battles between two or three of them squaking and diving at each other.
Meanwhile, the females just want to get their nests built and their eggs laid.
In this image the male that has established this nest with his mate is defending his territory against a very persistent interloper.
That darn guy with the noisy camera is back.
Dang it, Charlie! I SAID don’t look.
These two were having a bit of a territorial dispute. The one up high was trying to horn in on the nesting area for the other guy and his mate. She casusally sat atop a tall pine while the two macho guys zoomed and dove at each other for a few minutes … before the interloper decided it was time to move on.
The Brown Pelicans around the Palafox Pier in downtown Pensacola are so civilized you can walk right up to them and take their picture … at least until they get tired of the noise of the clicking shutter and bug off to another part of the pier.
She looks familiar. I think she may be one of the two females I saw hatched and grown to maturity last year, before their nest was destroyed. Now – if I’m right – she’s back in the neighborhood. I spotted her today with another female (perhaps her mother, because the other bird is obviously more mature judging from her size and darker color). They were hanging out in a nest very near last year’s destroyed nest, perhaps both looking for a mate.
Jim McDade, Photographer 