Return of the Osprey

I woke up to a very foggy morning today, every now and then the sun would just barley squeak through the clouds giving very brief glimpses of what heaven must look like. I figured this would be a good day to bring the camera on the way to work. Although I have not been shooting much recently with a very busy schedule, I figured it would not hurt to bring the camera, just in case. I have learned the hard way too many times. If in doubt, bring the camera.

On my commute to work I drive past one of those cell towers that try VERY hard to look like a pine tree. With it's awkward, stunted,  comical attempt to be branches, one must wonder if it were just a regular tower would it be less of an eye sore?

Apparently this breeding pair of osprey do not mind. I spotted one of them perched on the tower and pulled over, grabbed my camera focused in to make sure it was not a hawk or a crow, it wasn't!

Today marks my first osprey sighting of the year.  This is the same tower I reported a pair in last year. I can't help but wonder if it is the same pair as last year, or if it maybe one of the other 2 pairs that nested withing a 1/4 mile of this location last spring.

I had only a few minutes to watch as one of the osprey flew off, assuming it may be the male, I had a good idea he would be right back with a stick. Sure enough within 3 minutes the mature bird flew back over my head towards the nest. The size of the branch (or tree?) it was carrying was remarkable. Looking at the images I estimate 7-7.5 feet. As I continued to shoot these photos I could not believe it was actually gaining altitude with this log. Flapping hard and determined it struggled to continue its ascent. 

Just as the thought of "what would happened if he dropped that spear from the heavens and it hit a car, person, or house?" I saw one leg break loose from the tree. Within a second the bird released its' over sized payload sending the tomahawk missile plummeting downwards, as it gained velocity I peaked from behind my zoom lens to look at the landing zone. CRASH! the stick smashed into the metal roof of a storage facility and exploded onto pieces. No one else saw it.

This made me wonder how often this must happen, and thought, this must lead to some unexplained happenings around the world. Anyone ever hear of a stick falling from the sky with no trees around?