After Mark-8 threw her off Nest 1, Ethel settled into Nest 2 and Mr. Bennet brought her fish. Then Mark-8 brought a new female to Nest 1. Ethel went nuts. She flew between Nest 2 and Marker 8 over and over and over. Mr. B finally calmed her with more fish.
The new female settled into Nest 1. Ethel laid an egg in Nest 2. Mark-8 dive bombed Ethel as she incubated. Henceforth, New Female followed every time Ethel left Nest 2; followed her out, followed her back. A few times New Female dive bombed Ethel on Nest 2, as Mark 8 had done.
Mr. B and Ethel failed to form a commitment. Mr. B split a day or two before Mother’s Day when Ethel left the nest just long enough for two Canada geese to stomp flat anything left behind. Ethel split the next day. Thus began something akin to the musical chairs game.
Mr. B returned a few days later to a whirl of popularity, including food begging from Mark-8’s New Female.
Ethel reappeared, shooed New Female and Yet Another female off Nest 2. She and Mr. B tried again to commit. Mr. B tried again to dump her. But Ethel never severed ties with a male who had once delivered fish.
And Ethel had laid an egg in Nest 2, which has appeared to Osprey observers to impart a sense of proprietorship. Mr. B appeared to accept Ethel’s presence in his nest as legitimate, though he no longer treated her as a mate, he also didn’t try to push her off.
I named Mark-8’s new mate, a bit awkward, like your friend’s ex-husband’s new wife. They’d laid no eggs but they lasted the season.
Plus, I wanted to try out my new nomenclature. I named her NF1 for New Female, Nest 1.
In weird 2024, I funneled scattered papers and notebooks of variously detailed and dated observations regarding the 10 Ospreys I’d named into an Excel program.
Previous Episode: 2024-1: A Population Blip
Upcoming Episode: 2024.3: A Nest Too Far
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