The Bennets and Perfects arrived even earlier than the previous year. Big Mama arrived March 18, Big Daddy two days later, they were mating by March 21.
On March 26, far from the first time this season, Big Mama rocketed into the air to repulse an intruder. They became entangled and dropped into the water still intertwined. The intruder flew practically at the moment of the splash.
Big Mama floated beneath her nest, head up and wings outstretched, surely no more than two or three minutes. It felt an hour watching. She struggled and failed to pull herself out of the water twice, every feather drenched, even her head, she’d clearly completely submerged. She lifted free on her third try and reached her nest. She had a brightly bleeding gash down her breast.
She healed within a month to no apparent ill effect, wasn’t so fierce and stopped rocketing off her nest.
Measured birds per square foot, St. George Island might have been the Osprey Capital of the World.
The Perfects and Bennets further than ever ahead of schedule, arrived the first week of March. Fishing was stupendous. I watched Mr. B deliver a fish in each foot mid-March, then later, the male on the North-North Nest did the same.
Fish, tall pines, the increasingly dilapidated remnants of man-made platforms, these drew the the fledge classes of ’20 and ’21, successful years for the “Chesapeake” imprint.
The day Big Mama got slashed, Mark-8 made his dramatic arrival, streaking out of the water bushes at the shore and smashing an intruder off Nest 1.
At the eruption next door, Mrs. Bennet split and didn’t return to her Nest 2 until the next day. And then refused to resume the mating regiment of the past three weeks with Mr. Bennet. But she relented the next day, March 28, the same day Ethel returned. And Mrs. B split again.
Previous Episode 2022-5: Ethel Was Liberated
Upcoming Episode 2023-2: Ethel Remains Liberated
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