Osprey.
A long time ago, at just about this time of year, as I strolled along a tidal cove with a woman I liked, I heard the screams of an osprey high above us. “Osprey,” I said and pointed skyward. We both looked up and spotted the bird doing its signature spring sky dance. “How did you know?” she asked, seemingly impressed. It didn’t work out between us, alas, but for a moment I felt a surge of something like importance. As if simply recognizing the call of a bird made me somehow all-knowing.
Lichen.
I’m hardly all-knowing, of course—quite the contrary, even—but it’s nice to be able to pick out the voice of a cool bird at a distance. Especially if that bird is osprey.
In mid-April here on the 44th parallel, on a blue-sky day like today, you can often witness the sky dance of an osprey. It’s a male bird, I feel sure, claiming its territory. And as if to prove its mettle, it carries a fish, head first, in its talons. It flies high. It makes a lot of noise. I watched such a display this morning above Clam Cove.
Not being all-knowing, I’m not sure if I’m right about all this, but the sight is certainly memorable. Carrying its fish, the bird hovers high, crying out on flapping wings, and then dips swiftly down and rises again, as if on some kind of aerial roller coaster. Then it flaps again, crying out. Dip and rise, dip and rise.
Ospreys nest just about every year at Clam Cove. I’m hopeful this bird’s dance will prove successful.
It warmed up. I rode my bike a nice, long way. Then Jack and I took a quick hike up Beech Hill. Not a lot of birds on the hill this afternoon—perhaps the wind had something to do with that, I don’t (all-)know—but we did run into a solitary male turkey down the lower trail. As I watched through tree trunks and branches from maybe fifty yards away, it fanned its tail.
Wild turkey.
Just another bird in the mood for love.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American goldfinch
2. Herring gull (voice)
3. American robin
4. American crow
5. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
6. Wild turkey
7. Eastern phoebe
Elsewhere
8. Tufted titmouse
9. Northern cardinal
10. House finch
11. House sparrow
12. Osprey
13. Rock pigeon
14. Morning dove
Turkey tail.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, eastern phoebe, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, osprey, rock pigeon, tufted titmouse, wild turkey
