In the Right Place at the Right Time

Yesterday afternoon, having returned home from the long workshop and feeling guilty about Truman, I decided to take him for a walk around Meadowbrook Pond Park.  I almost left the camera at home (and did not bring the binoculars) because that park is not very "birdy" (mostly crows and Mallards) and it was just going to be a quick dog walk.

Luckily, I thought, "bring it anyway -- you never know."   And am I glad I did!

We had strolled around most of the park without seeing anything but crows and ducks when I paused on the pond walkway to admire a Great Blue Heron.  Even though I have a gazillion photos of herons, I still take more, because they are so photogenic.  This one decided to scratch an itch while we were there:

That was pleasing enough, but then the real excitement began.  I heard people shouting behind me -- and when I looked over, two women pointed up and yelled, "Osprey!  It just caught a fish and the crows are chasing it!"

Well, it was impossible with my little souped-up point-and-shoot to get a good shot of the birds in the air as they circled overhead several times -- this was the best I got:

Then the magical moment happened -- the Osprey landed in a tree not ten feet away.  Whoo hoo!!!

There it stayed, trying to eat its fish while fending off the crows who swooped at it repeatedly.  Quite a show.

I wonder if this is one of the Osprey pair that have recently returned to the Montlake Fill -- they were there last summer and tried unsuccessfully to build a nest atop a baseball field light.  A nesting platform was put up for them, but they weren't interested in it.  The pair is now back and bringing sticks to the baseball field light again.  Efforts are underway to try to relocate their nest efforts -- I hope it works out.

Here is a short video I took as well -- enjoy!