Flying Sticks

Click on the photos for a larger size

Anyone travelling up the coast from Cairns to Mossman in far north Queensland can't miss this Osprey nest.

Perched on a pole along the busy highway, a perfect nest is taking shape. The local electricity folks seem content to leave the birds alone. It seems ideally placed-not far from the ocean and there are a number of flowing streams a short distance form the site which is otherwise surrounded by sugarcane fields. There are a number of other nests along the same highway. But we noticed some activity around this nest and stopped for a better view.

Sure enough a head popped up. We thought they have bubs in the nest.

One of the adults cruised by giving us the once-over.

A nice bird against the blue sky. Then it disappeared for a while.

The bird returned carrying what looked like a snake. What a catch! And we are here to watch it.

But it didn't dangle like a snake. It was a stick.

But not only that, it was carrying a stick in one foot and some twigs or muddy grass in the other.

It flew low of over the nest and dropped the bunch of grass, then circled around and dropped the stick. The grass hit the target but the stick missed.

All this happening with cars whizzing past at great speed and incredible noise. The birds just carried on with business as usual.

So it seems the bird on the nest was the female and she was doing the house-keeping while the male was gathering the nesting material. In a month or so we will check on the occupants again and keep you posted.

EXTRA
Check for live cam:
http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/27/Hellgate_Ospreys/

Thanks to Dave Weissman for the link