The Ospreys Return

Each year in early April, Ospreys return to Chambers Creek Properties. Today, I saw them for the first time this year.

I knew that they would be back soon, so I modified my walk to ensure a lower tide when I reached the beach. The primary alteration to the trip was a walk into Steilacoom along Chambers Creek. I grabbed my camera and got a better look at the BNSF bridge where Ospreys have been known to nest. A single osprey was seen. That was my first sighting of the year. The second was on a tree above the dam that overlooked the creek. That could have been the same bird for all I know.

Then the beach. As soon as the nesting platform by the North Dock was in sight, I grabbed my 500mm spotting scope again. The platform was not empty as one osprey was guarding the nesting platform. Two additional ospreys were flying nearby. At one point, two were fighting for a spot on light pole. This became my first uploaded osprey picture of the year.

More pictures will come in the not-too-distant future. Walking south along the beach (the reason that I wanted a low tide), I saw one osprey on the BNSF bridge and another fly to the nest.

I returned North to the North Dock area. Once again, three Ospreys were in the area. At one point, all three were fighting over the nesting platform. They eventually took a break from the battle, and a fourth osprey decided to visit. I am confident that the two further south were not among these four. That made six Ospreys seen for the day… at least. Don’t get your hopes up too high. I have seen more than two ospreys in this area before just to have them drop down to two… to four again (when a couple young ospreys hatched on the platform).