Happy Landings

We watched this juvenile osprey practicing flight and landings. The parents land so elegantly; they can even hover and use the wind to drop in backwards. These guys generally underestimate the glide slope and end up flapping for dear life to achieve optimum elevation, then grab whatever perch available and flop. But practice will make perfect!

This young'un - by the necklace perhaps a girl - pumped like crazy to get above the nest then dropped in right over Dad. Note that her eyes have gone from brown to amber compared to the adult's golden eyes.

Same bird, flying from nest to a nearby post into a brisk west wind near sunset. She has thrown up her wings to kill the lift and allow her to drop onto the post. The light through her feathers somehow touches me.

Same girl, finally coming to rest for the night. If you look between the fourth and fifth feathers of the wing nearest you, you will see her eye peeking through the feathers. The deep colors are the tones of sunset.