Bird Party

Not too much of a gardening day for me...first of all it was about 25 degrees colder with a strong northeast wind. Nothing in the garden was really impacted in a permanent way by the cold. While D-14 was taking her riding lesson, I wandered around our beach from sea to sound... the water was all churned up on that wind.

I headed over to the sound for a bit. The water was all blown out revealing the mucky bottom with clods of oysters here and there waiting for the turn of the wind to cover them up again.

You can see how much water was moved...the lowest third of the marsh grass not normally above the water level.

The osprey were working on their nest...I waited to see if one of this pair would bring back a fish...but I had to go. I did see another osprey with a fish when I was driving over the 3 mile bridge with no hope of snapping a picture without going into the drink!

If you look closely at the talons, it is perfectly clear how they can carry a fish and fly at the same time. Often, if I am sitting on the beach, the osprey will dive in the ocean then fly back to the soundside nest with its catch. I read that live fish account for about 99% of the osprey diet. Barbed pads on the soles of its feet help it grip slippery fish which it carries headfirst to make it as aerodynamic as possible. How cool is that!

They were very chattery with each other, much more than I expected.

This was a big bird party....if you look closely there are 7 or 8 different birds in this picture!

Sanderlings...normally skitting along the waters edge, were for some reason running along this dock. The first time I have seen them soundside.

And last but not least, and not on the beach, the new little cow down the road...how can you not smile when you see a calf frolicking around.

In a loosely related topic, I did pick up two yards of "black gold" at the horse farm if you know what I mean...the garden will be happy for that, and it's free!!!!