Osprey Mating Pair

I was driving home and decided to swing by a place I had previously photographed some eagles. Didn't see any, but further down the road I noticed a man-made platform with an osprey nest on it. Empty at the time, I drove by a couple weeks later and saw a head popping up. I thought it was a juvenile, and made a note to go back w my camera.

I went back a couple days later with my camera, hoping to see some parents coming by. Just as I arrived, an adult osprey was flying off. So I set up and shot some photos of the osprey in the nest, waiting for the other to show up again. After about 30 mins the other osprey flies to the nest, kind of lands on the one in the nest, stays for less than a minute, and then takes off.

I couldn't figure it out. I looked closely at the photos for some food it was dropping off, but it was carrying nothing. Then it dawned on me that this was a mating pair. The female setting up house in the nest and the male popping by for the occasional a quickie.

I'll pop by regularly and capture some more images as the scene progresses.

Update: I went back the next day. The male was hanging out on a telephone pole. Eventually he begins to eat a fish he had in his talon. Here is a link to a rather long slo-mo video of the event.