Brave

Yesterday, as we left our house to go run errands we were greeted by something unusual.  Right in the middle of the road was a young osprey, sitting on the pavement and looking a bit disoriented.  He didn't move as we slowed down, but after we stopped he hopped over to the side of the road into a ditch.

Our first thought was that he was injured, mostly because he was on the ground, and because he was holding his wings at a weird angle to his body.  We feared he might have a broken wing or wings, so we called several rescue groups who specialize in birds of prey, only to find that they were closed, so we were forced to just leave messages.

We did finally speak to one group who said that if we could get him into a box, they would take him the following morning.  We asked how we should do this without injuring ourselves or the osprey, and what to give it overnight besides water...they recommended fish, which is kind of a no brainer when it comes to osprey.

As we debated what to do, I snapped a few pictures, but I did so reluctantly and from a distance.  I felt guilty taking pictures of what could be an injured bird that may not make it, but there was a part of me (and Mr. Tide) that felt like this bird was going to be just fine.  After finding no visible signs of injury, we thought that perhaps this was just a young osprey who had been brave enough to venture from the nest, and was just getting his sea legs, or wings in this case.

As we observed him from our truck, we saw an adult osprey flying above and this made us think that perhaps he was just the first one daring enough to leave the nest.  So we formulated a plan...first we would go buy some fish, and if he was there when we returned we would gather him up in a box and tend to him overnight before taking him to the wildlife refuge.  We still weren't completely sure how we would get him in the box, or where we would keep him overnight, since even the garage would likely be too warm, but we would worry about that later.

I also told myself that if he was in fact hurt, I would erase any pictures I had taken, but in my heart I imagined his mother coming to his aide after we left and him being safely back in the nest when we returned.

A little while later we came back, with fish in hand, and we searched and searched but the little osprey was no where to be found.  Our daughter had also been by to look while we were gone and saw no signs of him.  We looked in the woods, in the ditches, and for any signs of feathers in case the unthinkable had happened while we were gone, but he was gone without a trace...just the way we had hoped he would be.

After doing more reading on the internet when we got home we found lots of pictures of young osprey looking exactly as the one we saw in the road had looked, wings at the same angle and on the ground as they attempted to master the skill of flying.  It seems we had just been in the right place at the right time to witness this little osprey's first feathered attempts at flight.

This got me thinking about bravery, and how terrifying it must be to jump from the safety of a nest some 40 feet up in the air.  And how thrilling it must be to make that jump, even if it meant having to sit on the side of a road for a little while until someone came to rescue you and help you try again.

In life we have many chances to be brave, to do something others are afraid to do, to venture out of our own nests and risk ending up in a situation that may not at first seem that wise.  But if you don't ever find that brave part of your heart and soul, you will miss the amazing things in life, like being able to tell the story of how when you took that first leap of faith you ended up in the road, with a woman and her camera staring straight at you from the window of a big metal thing.  And you will certainly never know the feeling of soaring over land and sea to find your own nest and your own supper.

Being brave doesn't mean you'll succeed in everything you try, you may have to try many times, or in different ways before you can master the things you so want in life, but a life that is safe and one where you have to wait until someone pushes you out of the nest seems so much scarier to me.

I hope you take your own brave steps towards whatever it is you fear and want to master...and just know that there will be others who will help you when you fall and need some fresh fish!

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Unlike the poignantly moving and, at the time, controversial film by the same name as my post title which came out when I was a toddler (1967), our dinner guest, or should I say breakfast guest, is of a feathered nature.

When I stepped out onto our patio today to take the dogs out, I heard the familiar cries of one of our resident eagles.  Each morning and night they fly back and forth from their perches on the river, to their nest somewhere way up the creek from us.  I'm used to hearing them call to one another and yell at the osprey who constantly badger them, but this time the calls seemed much closer than usual.

With my camera never far away, I went back inside and put my long lens on in hopes that I might catch a glimpse of him or her in a nearby tree.  As I was scanning the trees, looking among the leaves, I happened to glance to my left towards the field and this is what I saw.

There were also two vultures, and along with the eagle, they appeared to be having a dinner party of sorts on something that must have been killed by the tractor that mowed the fields next to us yesterday.

I snapped a few shots of the eagle in the field, and then quietly tried to get a little closer, to no avail.  Before I could even get down the steps of the patio, the eagle was off and running.  I was still hundreds of feet away, but the eagle was having no part of it all, so I backed off and went back on the patio still snapping as he flew off.

In the photo above you can see him or her with a tiny bit of field grass still hanging from his mouth.  This may have actually been a female since they are the larger of the two sexes in the eagle world.

As much as I love capturing their sheer power and beauty, I don't like disrupting their daily routines.  So I kept my distance, which meant most of the rest of my photos were of eagle butts.  I have to say though, that even from a rear view, they are pretty amazing creatures!

Be Fearless

The osprey have mostly left our area, save a few stranglers working their way south.  Once they leave, the eagles move back along the shoreline to stake their claim to the tall pines for the best fishing perches. They are here all summer alongside the osprey, but they keep a much lower profile until their loud and sometimes obnoxious neighbors fly south, giving them free reign once again.

As the osprey give way to the eagles, you can almost feel a change in the air.  The thunderous sounds of their wings overhead seem so much stronger and more free than those of the smaller osprey that outnumber them during the summer months.  It truly is something to be sitting on the pier or on our patio and hear the sound of those big wings and the shadow they create as they fly out for the hunt each morning and back home when the sun goes down.

But it is on days like today that I think I admire those hulking birds of prey the most.  Rainy, windy days when the river is angry and the white caps make it look like a churning caldron.  The eagles seem to thrive on this sort of weather, almost daring the wind and the waves to ruin their day or keep them from their next meal.

Instead of hunkering down and letting the weather calm down, they choose to soar and ride the air currents like daredevils.  They screech to one another with the enthusiasm of young children chasing each other on a playground.  And they dive and dance, sometimes with a purpose and sometimes it seems as though they do it just for the shear enjoyment...without fear, without hesitation, without concern for who might be watching.

I think we can learn a lot from the eagles, about living each day and facing adversity with a strength and joy that makes us resilient.  Today, dare to spread your wings and fly as if no one was watching, without fear of failure, and with all the happiness you can muster...Be Fearless!!!

Take Wing

I took these shots of the juvenile eagle a few days before I left for Europe.  I was sitting down by the water enjoying the beautiful weather when he or she graced me with their presence by flying down the creek in search of lunch.  We have since found out that there are several juveniles who nest somewhere way up at the head of our creek...at least that's where we think they nest since in the 4 years we have lived here we've not been able to locate the actual nest.


 

I have a new appreciation for wildlife photographers and the skill it takes to nail a shot, especially when what you are trying to shoot could care less that you want to take their picture.  And swinging around a heavy telephoto lens, and trying to get a good shot while something is flying all around is a talent I've not yet mastered, but hope to.

Still, I loved this second photo, something about it just spoke to me, so unlike the first photo I didn't do anything to it but crop it and convert it from color to black and white to give it more visual impact.  For me, it embodies strength, grace, and an almost angel like quality, and I feel peaceful when I look at it.  I thought it would be fitting to post it today, since today would be the 34th birthday of my dear friend Dan who passed away a little over a year ago.  I'm sure his angel wings are equally as strong and majestic.