Before going out to visit family on Easter morning Frodo, our Standard Poodle, & I had our normal walk around a local lake (Peters Lake Park, Nottingham Township, Washington County).

I’d read about the Osprey cam on a nest at Lake Arthur since last week of March but frankly was a bit mystified. At our local lake I hadn’t seen any sign of fish activity at surface or in shallows until about Wednesday last. But the Osprey at Lake Arthur must be able to catch something to eat. In the last two years I’ve first seen Osprey at our lake in early April, so I’ve been on the lookout.

Came around a bend in the road this morning & there it was. Perfect visibility, with the sun to my back. A white head over dark brown shoulders perched on a branch over the water. Beautiful. And as a Cheshire Cat grin spread over my face there was a splash behind me. Looked over my left shoulder just in time to see a second Osprey ( it’s mate I assume) pulling itself out of the water with something in its claw. Not a big something, but something. After a couple of loops & dips around the 1st bird it flew off to another tree. Showing off. ‘ See what I caught’. The 1st bird didn’t look impressed. I have a feeling the female Osprey spends a lot of time watching the male fishing before she’ll set up ‘nest keeping’. Just to be sure that he can bring home the bacon (fish), so to speak.

Last month I saw a solitary Horned Grebe paddling around the same lake. This morning I think I saw 8 of them together. I say ‘think’ because they were in the middle of the pond & I don’t carry field glasses walking the dog. White & black colors showed up clearly although shape was indistinct at that distance. Size was right as well as some mostly white necks. And when a couple of mallards paddled out the difference between the lighter sides of a mallard & the bright white on these birds was stark. So, I’m goin’ with Horned Grebe again.

Have fun out there.

Ken Yonek