Long periods of sitting and doing absolutely nothing are occasionally punctuated by tests of the osprey chick's new-found flying abilities. I haven't seen all three get into a "dogfight," but I have seen two play games of what looks like aerial "chicken."
Once or twice, red-winged black birds have joined in, but they were there to ping 'em for sport. They are still days away, if not longer, from being able to feed themselves by catching their own fish.
One had me laughing yesterday. It was going through all the motions of catching a fish with mock dives and strafing runs. In the process of practicing one run, it flew straight across the river and directly at a great blue heron on the far shore. If it was an adult osprey, it would have turned away before it reached the heron. But, like an annoying teenager, it went right over the bird, causing it to swear and tell him to watch where he was driving.
A great blue heron is, what, about four feet tall? Notice how it appears dwarfed against the phragmites behind it.
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