87 F/ 31 C

An osprey on the 
ground is not a usual 
sight to see at all

~carliewired

I was later than sunrise this morning. I always feel like I've let down the team when I am so slow in the morning. 

I'd decided last night that I would drive out to Vantage Point beside the airport this morning. I arrived about 7 AM. The sun was already filling up the valley. I walked along the Rivers Trail heading west. I wasn't sure how much my cranky feet would tolerate. I looked back to get a view of the float plane dock and my mountains. I got a shot of a small private plane getting ready to take off. 

I usually pick the lower dirt trail near the river that branches off the Rivers Trail. Today, I continued along the gravel on top of the dyke. It gave me a view down to the road along the airport. To my surprise this morning, there was something of a bird rescue underway. A car was parked along the roadway, a man got out, walked over to the other side of the road with a big tote bag in his hand. He stopped on the grass right beside the road and tipped the bag upside down. From it emerged two big wings spreading and an osprey was unceremoniously dumped onto the grass. It quickly righted itself as the man retreated back to his vehicle to watch from a safe distance. 

I was so surprised by this scene, it took me a few moments to get my camera in action. I watched the osprey for several minutes. It was alert but not very active. I was concerned it had been left so close to the road and it appeared stunned. 

I walked a few more minutes to look into the river, then turned back to check on the osprey. A man came out of one of the airport buildings and came close to the osprey to have a look. I stood on the top of the dyke and we had a little chat about the bird. The man had noticed the bird in the middle of the road earlier, then noticed the vehicle there beside the road. He wasn't certain what had happened but suggested that the osprey may have hit the overhead wires and the fellow might have attempted to rescue it, but changed his mind about taking it somewhere. 

I walked back to my car not feeling very good about the poor osprey. Neither myself or the man I had talked to knew what else to do for the osprey. I can only hope it recovers and gets away. 

I picked up my breakfast on the way home. We're poised for a long weekend before school starts again on Tuesday. I'd like a quiet day for myself.