A HOT day for the Ospreys

Our family of  Osprey were so hot today. A close up shows the open mouth of one the young.  The other young one is shielded by the open wings of the adult and tucked down between the the two birds.
Plenty of fish kept them hydrated, and tomorrow promises to be another hot one. 

Sago Palm, with cone!

Our single Sago has been in the ground for many years, in a pot for many years prior and gave us the surprise of a cone this year (this is a male plant).  I was hoping to find a nearby Sago with flowers (the female plant), but the nearest Sago is putting out pups and not blooms.
I will be on the look out for a bona fide female Sago for the garden.  The Sago is a very old plant.  I liken it to the Gars in the Sound waters which may be a stretch, the gars are prehistoric.

Here is my male Sago with cone.

A mike boat passes

The sound is home to many boats, but typically the small variety.  This afternoon a Large boat passed by and created plenty of interest with my family guests and myself.   Marked as US Army and with a large flag at stern.
Binoculars and cameras were brought out.  What a site!
Then our local crabbers, Carolina Blue Crabs, came along with Fudge the dog barking madly.  You could hear him giving the big boat what for.
An unusual site, makes you wonder where they were headed.  Happy they got past that sticky part (the sound is very low in places) and on their way.

The Flycatcher Fledging

The wind has been awful, a north east wind blowing very strong for days.  What is this weather?, I expected it in March not June.  At least it's not raining, and my osprey babies are big enough to handle it.  The water in the Sound is low.
My young peach tree is loaded with fruit, almost ready, and has attracted another eater.  This one eats at night!  While wrapping the peach tree to protect it from whatever, I heard heard the Flycatchers and spotted a fledgling in Crepe Myrtle.  The wind is blowing a gale and they fledge the nest!

Here is the fuzzy little one:

And nearby an adult swinging on a branch in the hard wind:

They had more to fledge so I left them to it.  That wind was too much for me.

Young Osprey on the Nest

Two young Osprey are thriving.  The Pair have been busy protecting and feeding. The weather has not been perfect, but it is the weather.  Nothing terribly severe has come through, but now the heat is a factor.  Osprey shade the young from the sun by spreading their wings.  You can imagine how exhausting this is.  Luckily our young birds are big enough to withstand a quick escape from the nest by the adult for a cooling run and  a dip of the feet in the water.
Here are a few shots of one of the two young including the shading behaviour.  You will have to look close or enlarge the shot to see that young one near the bottom of the adult.  In the last shot the little one we cannot see is getting all the shade!