The Osprey and the Hawk

Although I have long left Maine and now traversing the New Zealand countryside, I still wanted to share some of Maine with you.  I promise to bring New Zealand to you here soon!

During one of our last days in Maine, this Red-tailed Hawk decided to make a presence in one of the trees near the Osprey nest in our harbor.  As one would expect, the Ospreys were not happy as they had two young fledglings in their nest nearby.  What captured my attention was the constant "cheep cheep cheep" had turned into a "cheereek cheereek cheereek" cry and upon looking out my window, I observed the Osprey diving towards our birch tree.

Of course, I grabbed my camera and ran down near the tree and sat there for the next 30 minutes as the Osprey circled and dive bombed the Hawk, clipping leaves from the tree with each swoop.

As you can see from the images, 

the Hawk simply ignored the Osprey and gave him no heed.

 Over and over and over again, 

the Osprey swooped in ...

 ... while the Hawk 

continued scoping out the field below.

I'm unsure if the Hawk was really interested in the Osprey's young.  Seemed to me his attention was more on the field below, perhaps seeking mice.  But no matter, the Osprey was quite unhappy with the Hawk in his territory.

They both totally ignored me which was surprising.  I thought my presence would scare at least the Hawk away.

He only gave me the evil eye now and then.

Eventually, the Osprey returned to its nest and shortly thereafter, the Hawk flew away.

We were treated to this scenario one more time that evening as we enjoyed a glass of wine on our neighbor's deck.  But this time, the tree was much closer to the Osprey's nest.  Perhaps the Hawk was interested in those little ones after all.

Sure hope not.  The fledglings had recently begun flying and probably will be leaving the nest in the next few weeks.  Kind of miss hearing their "cheep cheep cheep".  ~sigh~

Later, my friends,