Osprey

S told me that she had seen two osprey yesterday.  I took that with my usual grain of salt, preferring to confirm such things on my own.  After all, I had been out in the canoe and hadn't seen any.  Before I get to Cedar Island, a distance something under a half mile, I have spotted five osprey.  I put my notebook down and look the other way and it is now six.

It is a tremendously peaceful day.  The predicted south wind has not materialized and the sky has a high thin overcast that seems to add calm to the situation.  The tide is coming in and will reach high while I am out.  Paddling is all rhythm in such still waters with no corrections for drift to be made and no hunting for protected banks to ease the work.  Songs begin to work their way through my head filling the silence with inaudible melodies.  Beasts and plants pass by without the effort of giving them names.  They do what they do, I do what I do, and none seem to notice as long as nothing is out of the ordinary.

Osprey starting some nest refurbishing

A hawk, flushed from close in breaks the spell.  It is the easiest hawk ID I have ever made, it's rust red fan of a tail flashing bright on a landscape that is still tan and grey.  I watch it for a short time as it works its way through the bare forest, and then I return to where I was when I was so rudely interrupted.

The Gravel Bank at high tide

I pass under the usual bridge and continue to the bottom of the jungle.  I turn back when I get to the purple beach ball, removing the landmark leaving the route unsigned.

Notes:  I spotted between 7 and 11 osprey all in the lower marsh of the East River.  A later chat confirms that osprey appeared on Great Island (Connecticut River) 3 days ago.