Osprey

Of all the birds I see on a regular basis at Hope, the osprey is the most shy. I used to see him all the time in the first days of this project. He'd be perched high up in the tree in front of Hope. But then I started to notice that he would fly off as soon as he saw me on the sidewalk. And then a few days later, he started flying off as soon as I got out of my car. Some days after that, he started taking off as soon as I pulled into the parking lot and then I stopped seeing him at all.

So it was a pleasant surprise this morning to see him glide in from the east and sit on a different tree close to the water, in front of the prayer garden. I got as close as I could before he flew off. I found him a few minutes later back deeper in the woods, standing high up in a dead tree that only the woodpeckers venture to.