Almost Ready To Fly

With apologies for the quality of the image (far away, and not much light), I'm sharing a scene which was fun to watch. Ma Osprey and her three chicks were on the nest, calling for Pa to come with food. He arrived with a fresh fish which they all shared. Pa flew away; then Ma flew away, perhaps to eat her portion in peace and quiet. As soon as Ma was gone, one of the chicks decided to try out his wings. He flapped and flapped, stamping right foot, left foot, right foot... I think that if he had lifted both feet at the same time he would have taken off! But he wasn't quite ready for that.

The main photo shows the three chicks with Ma behind them. You can just see her legs. The extra photo shows the gutsy little fellow almost flying.

I must admit that the osprey chicks are more handsome than my heron chicks... but the herons have great personalities!