2023-01: Big Mama Attacked
In March 2020, four Ospreys returned to established nests in Island Creek a couple hundred feet from our house and six Ospreys migrated north for the first time to skirmish over two new nest platforms the Captain had installed off the oyster house next door. A telescope in 2021 led to anthropomorphism, I gave them snarky names. In 2022, the Captain declared St. George Island the Osprey Capital of the World there were so many. By ’23 Osprey poop was an island issue. By ’24, that wasn’t an issue anymore.
This is being written in season seven of my Osprey snooping and now tattling. The whole story of 2020–What I Knew Then, What I Know Now–2026 is available at Island Creek Osprey. And you can find other things of unusual interest at VikiVolk.com as well.
2023 – What I Knew Then, What I Know Now – 2026
The Bennets and Perfects arrived even earlier than the previous year. Big Mama arrived March 18, Big Daddy two days later, they were mating by March 21.
On March 26, far from the first time this season, Big Mama rocketed into the air to repulse an intruder. They became entangled and dropped into the water still intertwined. The intruder flew practically at the moment of the splash.
Big Mama floated beneath her nest, head up and wings outstretched, surely no more than two or three minutes. It felt an hour watching. She struggled and failed to pull herself out of the water twice, every feather drenched, even her head, she’d clearly completely submerged. She lifted free on her third try and reached her nest. She had a brightly bleeding gash down her breast.
Big Mama, left, has butterscotch colored eyes, Big Daddy on right.
She healed within a month to no apparent ill effect, wasn’t so fierce and stopped rocketing off her nest.
The Perfects and Bennets further than ever ahead of schedule, arrived the first week of March. Fishing was stupendous. I watched Mr. B deliver a fish in each foot mid-March. Later that day the male on the nest to the north of the Perfects did the same.
Fish, tall pines, scores of man-made platforms continued to draw youngsters, this year’s from successful “Chesapeake” imprinted fledge classes of ’20 and ’21.
Measured birds per square foot, St. George Island really might have been the Osprey Capital of the World.
The day Big Mama got slashed, Mark-8 made his dramatic arrival, streaking out of the water bushes at the shore and smashing an intruder off Nest 1.
At that eruption next door, Mrs. Bennet split and didn’t return to her Nest 2 until the next day. And then refused to resume the mating regiment of the past three weeks with Mr. Bennet. She relented the next day, March 28, the same day Ethel returned. And Mrs. B split again.
Previous Episode 2022-5: Ethel Was Liberated
Upcoming Episode 2023-2: Ethel Remains Liberated
