The Tale of Two Ospreys

  I am still pondering the fate of one of my critter friends here on the Bayou.  Yesterday, I found an osprey that looked a tad weak and weary.  I was not sure of the bird's malady or injury (whichever the case may be.) but I was positive that something was quite wrong.  The bird's pitiful appearance caused me much worry throughout the night.  With first light this morning, I made my way to the marsh edge and the pine tree that held my ill friend.  The bird was not there.  This may or may not be a good thing.  I searched several times today for an sign of the bird with no luck. The best case scenario saw the bird feeling better and off doing fine birdy things.  Worst case...well, I do not want to consider that at all.  

  This evening, I did spy a female osprey flying high above the Bayou.  Although seemingly healthy, this bird, too, was acting strangely.  She kept flying down into the marsh as if to inspect something nestled in among the reeds.  Not daring to enter the cottonmouth moccasin infested marsh (which also happens to be the home of snapping turtles and alligators), I had to assume that whatever held the bird's interest was not food.  If she had dropped a mullet while in flight, the osprey could have easily snatched it back again.  Something was definitely there that should not be.  Could this be the weakened osprey?  Could the one above be its mate?  Could it be possible that the strong, healthy bird was trying to help?  A lot of questions still flew through my head.  

  As much as it woes me to know that one of my friends might possibly be still impaired, I dare not enter the marsh especially this late in the evening. The distance that I would have to traipse and the quickly darkening sky would definitely put me in danger.  I would have to cross nigh on two hundred feet of muck before ever reaching the area and then this might not even be my critter friend.  Who knows just what the healthy osprey was finding interesting.  I suppose that I will just have to keep watch to see how this scene unfolds.  I sure hope the saga has a happy ending.