Teenagers?

On an evening canoe ride to pick up some fishing weights from the dock of a neighbor, we passed this osprey defending her nest. She would cry angrily at us as we had to pass somewhat close to get where we were going. We wondered if this was the female of the couple that had nested on the high crane across from our house last year.


The next evening I photographed this lovely fish hawk from my deck. He was waiting patiently on our side of the river watching the sun setting. One might think this is the male of the pair since the nest is so close, but then we also see this at sunset...


At first there is one silhouette but in time the second of the pair joins in company watching and waiting perhaps thinking about the days events. We wonder if the second is the mother leaving the nest for a break? We cannot see the nest from here. Or perhaps these are two young birds that did not find mates this year. This pair appears like clockwork each evening as if this is the "happy hour at the snag."

Yesterday a nasty storm with strong winds arrived with the sunset and one stayed and put his back to the storm and rode it out! Shielding my telephoto from the rain, I could not stay long to capture this determination.