Marina residents

The connection with nature is so much more evident when you live close to the sea. There is a pair of osprey nesting in our marina. They’ve taken over the top of a mast on a 50-foot sailboat two docks to the east and the agreement is that the boat will not move until they’ve hatched their brood and the fledglings are on their own. How that arrangement came about is a history that we are not familiar with, but the pair has returned to the same mast in the same slip for several years running. We watched them building the nest the first days we were here, early in November, wondering if the “pick-up-sticks” school of structural engineering would succeed. It did, as it has for centuries in osprey-fashion. Now we have all settled into the waiting and watching phase. Periodically, one bird will perch in a nearby boat rigging, calling to its mate, a sharp, harsh cry. The response from the nest is more muted. With so much in the balance, they are sparing with their words.