Early Spring

I drove out to Brewster today, the other end of the Cape from where we live, to pick up my cello. The bridge had warped badly, and I had taken it to a luthier out there on Tuesday to have it straightened out.

The luthier has a wonderful studio on the edge of the wetlands, perhaps surrounded by wetlands. The property used to be an aquarium. He has large windows looking out at the marshes. It was raining, perhaps a cross between rain and snow, and I said, "Well, you will be the first to know when spring comes, when things start greening up, with this wonderful view."

He said that he considered spring to be the return of the ospreys. There is a nest on a post in the marshes, not very far from his studio. Last year, he said, the ospreys returned on March 23. He told me about how the male is expected to tidy up the nest for the female, and other interesting tales about these birds, their migratory habits, territorial defenses, and care of their young.

Almost immediately after I got on the road headed home, I was confronted with a large bird, sitting squarely on the telephone wire stretched across the road, no more than six feet from me. I imagined it was the female of the pair, waiting for the male to arrive and fix up the place.

I had my camera with me, but did not have time to turn around and go back for a shot. I wish I had. After I got home, I searched for osprey images to post with this story, but could not find one in the right position--they were angled more than my bird.

After a while I decided it was a red-tailed hawk instead. They are rounder, less angular than the osprey. The photo on the left is an osprey; the one on the right is a red-tailed hawk.)

But the hawks are migratory birds too, and I do think that bird was telling me spring is here!