Cattus Island CP 3/21--Osprey

I was standing on the trail of Cattus Island where it goes between the marshes this morning, listening to a woodpecker hammering back in the woods, thinking what baloney it was that some people claim they can tell the species of woodpecker by the sound of it battering a tree, when I realized that I was also hearing an annoying "cheep cheep" from behind me.  Osprey. Ever since my summers on Martha's Vineyard where an Osprey nest was across the pond from my rented cottage, the incessant calling of that raptor has been like fingernails on a blackboard to me (aside: there's a phrase probably no one under 50 has ever experienced).(Further aside: same with "broken record.")

I turned around and there were two Osprey flying around, maybe a pair looking to set up housekeeping. One briefly landed on a nesting platform in the marsh, then took off. Although there has been at least one Osprey visiting Point Pleasant all winter, mid-March is the usual time they reappear in these parts. Eventually, on my way out, one of the Osprey was sitting on a different platform about a mile away. I took the obligatory (not-very-good) photo.

And so, photographers, stake out those Osprey nests. You too can add to the billions of photos of Ospreys, all of which look pretty much alike in these 3 categories: Osprey(s) sitting on nest. Osprey in flight, carrying fish. Osprey diving to catch fish (oooh).  I used to take one good photo of an Osprey at Brig and publish it on this blog as a public service, so that no one would have to waste their time waiting for the light to be just right, but it didn't seem to have any effect--the mystifying photographic fascination never abates. 

Actually, I happen to have taken the best picture of an Osprey. 

One year at Brig, I was going around the drive by myself when an Osprey was standing on the road in the path of my car. It wasn't sick. It didn't have a fish to eat. It just felt like being there, I guess. I waited and it stood there. I took a few photos to kill time, and it still stood there. I got back in the car and drove up, figuring it would fly away. It just stood there. I pulled up beside it and took a picture. It stood there. I leaned out of the car window and put the lens in its face. It didn't care. It stood there. And this is the picture I took:

Tell me it isn't the best photo of an Osprey you ever saw.