My kind of gal, she is.
I first made her acquaintance a few weeks back outside of Dunkeld, Scotland up at Loch of the Lowes.
We both like the out-of-doors and hit it off immediately.
I'd just flown in from the US, several thousand miles away, to get ready for my son's wedding the next weekend. She'd flown back over 3,000 miles, two weeks earlier from Senegal, West Africa where she's wintered for the past 17-20 years.
At one round-trip flight a year back and forth from Senegal---coming to 6,000 miles a year for 20 years----I estimate she's flown over 120,000 miles in her little lifetime of 20 years, which gives new meaning to the term Frequent Flier. She's got a few miles on her.
I was coming to Scotland to get my act together to greet family and friends from two continents.
She was coming back to get to it with her mate and start her next brood of chicks. She did her duty like the true champion she is, and is now sitting patiently on her 50th, 51st and 52nd eggs, due to hatch in the next few weeks. she is being assisted in this prolific venture by her mate who feeds and relieves her on the nest.
She's currently incubating three eggs in their nest.
I first made her acquaintance a few weeks back outside of Dunkeld, Scotland up at Loch of the Lowes.
We both like the out-of-doors and hit it off immediately.
I'd just flown in from the US, several thousand miles away, to get ready for my son's wedding the next weekend. She'd flown back over 3,000 miles, two weeks earlier from Senegal, West Africa where she's wintered for the past 17-20 years.
At one round-trip flight a year back and forth from Senegal---coming to 6,000 miles a year for 20 years----I estimate she's flown over 120,000 miles in her little lifetime of 20 years, which gives new meaning to the term Frequent Flier. She's got a few miles on her.
I was coming to Scotland to get my act together to greet family and friends from two continents.
She was coming back to get to it with her mate and start her next brood of chicks. She did her duty like the true champion she is, and is now sitting patiently on her 50th, 51st and 52nd eggs, due to hatch in the next few weeks. she is being assisted in this prolific venture by her mate who feeds and relieves her on the nest.
She's currently incubating three eggs in their nest.
She and I---both accomplished our missions. But only one of us got our own reality TV program in the process. And a HI-DEF show at that. The closed circuit reality show went to her, as well it should.
And now, with no further ado, I present the little Osprey Hen that can and does----and LIVE, if you dare. This is television at its best, as far as I'm concerned. And it's live 24/7/365.
Tune in here by clicking the link and then clicking CAM 1 on the top line for the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Please remember, her time zone is 6-8 hours ahead of ours in the US.
If you're persistent, you may see all sorts of things, including her mate, the chicks being hatched soon, and the explosive, irrepresible Life Force that keeps this amazing universe going.
Remember this is live reality TV. There's no canned applause, just the sound of the great outdoors and the wind.
I've linked to it in my sidebar, and will be posting more on her remarkable little life, as the weeks go by. This is a wonderful respite from too much presidential politics.
Wonderful watching her on the nest. And it really seems to be live.
ReplyDeleteIt's now, A, that I tune in periodically during the day. Last night before I turned in, it was night time there and she was fast asleep. The cameras go constantly. It can be like grass growing, but then there's action that is amazing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Web. Truly amazing.
ReplyDelete