March 20, 2022
Happy Spring! Today is the spring equinox which marks the astronomical first day of spring around the Northern Hemisphere. The spring equinox is when the days start to get longer.
The ospreys are back in town for the start of nesting season here in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Seeing the ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) back in town has also been a sign of springtime for me. Ospreys usually return to their nesting site in March. Therefore, I went out yesterday to do my first photographing of the osprey’ nesting season for spring 2022.

One of the best places in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia to photograph and observe several osprey pairs nesting is at Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, Virginia. Fort Monroe is encompassed by Mill Creek and the Hampton Roads.
On Fort Monroe along Mill Creek there are several osprey nests that are built on osprey platforms and light poles. This is a great location for photographing nesting ospreys during their spring arrival until their migration back to their wintering grounds in South America. The ospreys travel up to 240 miles in a day during their migration times.
In March, the male osprey will return to the nesting site first. The female osprey will then show up at the nesting spot a week or two later.

Once the pair of ospreys have return to their nesting site, they will rebuild their nest. They both will gather sticks and an assortment of items. Even a facemask has been used to freshen up their nest for the new nesting season. The female osprey will generally spend the time arranging the items on the nest.

It seems all the pairs of ospreys nesting at Fort Monroe National Monument along Mill Creek arrived back to their old nests. I am looking forward to photographing and observing how this year’s osprey nesting season goes. As a wildlife and nature conservation photographer, I am always looking for a new story or new way to capture the ospreys. I will be sharing a lot more osprey images this nesting season.


Happy spring! May you blossom with the season.
Thank you for reading my Field Notes Blog, and I hope you will share this post with others.
Let’s protect our wildlife and nature!
All the very best,
Lori
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Copyright © 2022 Lori A Cash
Beautiful images, Osprey are my favorite predatory bird, they have so much character.
Thank you so very much, Laura! I agree about the osprey. Happy Spring!
Happy Spring, Loria!
Wonderful post! Great images and info about the osprey!
Thank you so very much, Katy!