It is my 8th year in participating in the AtoZ Challenge, and it is also National Poetry Month, so I am writing poems from A to Z based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year. The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will probably post a non-vanity plate poem on that day.
Since it's the 5th day of the Challenge, we are on the letter E. E was one of the plates I could not find before we moved. But I did find a great website that allowed me to make a plate. I put the link in under the plate in case you wanted to try one.
E is for...
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| License Plate Maker |
sea eagle's outpost
intricately primitive
nest of tangled limbs
pines tenaciously grasping
granite ledges they call home
by Donna JT Smith ©4/1/2019
The osprey should be back now, or in a few days in Maine. Love to see them returning one at a time, waiting for their life partner to return. Then they picked up where they left off in fall...back in the old nest, "sprucing" it up (so to speak), adding height to it in preparation for their new offspring.
Click here and you can watch an oprey nest in Maine live.
*Just added this reply to a comment here to the post: Osprey fly south for the winter months. Females usually go fairly far, like Florida, and males further south. The are partners for life and they meet up again at their nest up north usually within a day or two of each other. One of the mysteries of this world! You are not to touch or disturb an osprey's nest, and there are even high poles with platforms at the top put up near water so that osprey will have more nesting spots. The nests are huge piles of sticks that they add to every year. One year our bridge needed repainting but there was a nest at the top. The state had to get special permissions to paint it. They carefully removed the nest, setting it up on a platformed pole close by over the winter months while they were south. When the osprey returned they shunned the repositioned nest and began another on the bridge in the same spot.
*Update: Yesterday, the first osprey was spotted in Damariscotta, not far away from Hog Island! They are getting closer.
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| Still shot of the osprey nest on Hog Island. |
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| Click here to visit the links to other participants this year. |
Pines grasping the granite ledges - vivid and evocative!
ReplyDeleteDo ospreys go their separate ways for the rest of the year then? How cool.
Yes, osprey fly south for the winter months. Females usually go fairly far, like Florida, and males further south. The are partners for life and they meet up again at their nest up north usually within a day or two of each other. One of the mysteries of this world! You are not to touch or disturb an osprey's nest, and there are even high poles with platforms at the top put up near water so that osprey will have more nesting spots. The nests are huge piles of sticks that they add to every year. One year our bridge needed repainting but there was a nest at the top. The state had to get special permissions to paint it. They carefully removed the nest, setting it up on a platformed pole close by over the winter months while they were south. When the osprey returned they shunned the repositioned nest and began another on the bridge in the same spot.
DeleteThis is fascinating, Donna.
DeleteFun license plate and wonderful poem -- also appreciate the extra info about ospreys. Fascinating stuff!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jama! They are fascinating. Love that we can watch them close up.
DeleteIt does seem like a 'nest of tangled limbs' & thanks for the extra info, Donna. I love the new nest & the 'no thanks' from the pair returning.
ReplyDeleteIf the wind doesn't knock it down some over the winter, it can get pretty tall or thick. On the roadway under the bridge nest in spring there are always branches in the road where they drop branches or sort the ones they want - dropping the rest out. It is fun to watch the progress of that group because they are so close up. I would drive under their nest each day going to the mainland to town. Fun to watch them flying in with a fish. The fish is always facing forward to reduce wind resistance.
DeleteYou go, Donna! On the heels of the February poem challenge you're knee deep in the next. You inspire me. The tanka makes me feel like I'm holding on in the cold spring we're having. The mystery of the osprey is pretty cool. I wonder if one partner ever gets short-tempered with the other? Or, are they lovey dovey? Fun facts about them. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOsprey are like bald eagles...they never look happy or lovey-dovey. Near as I can tell, they tolerate one another. LOL!
DeleteHope the snow melts soon so Rachel and Steve can begin another family. Thanks for sharing your Tanka poem today, Donna. I am always interested in learning different forms of poetry and this one is new to me.
ReplyDeletehttp://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com/
E is for: Elderly Fare at Cork Market
I check the web cam daily now, hoping to get a first glimpse of their return. Kent Island, MD has an osprey that's back. On that site you an also check in on a bald eagle's nest with an egg in it in Iowa that is fun to watch. https://explore.org/livecams/bald-eagles/decorah-eagles
DeleteI love your A to Z license plate challenge. I especially love the line "nest of tangled limbs", great imagery!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda. It is lots of fun - even throughout the year gathering the plates around Maine.
DeleteLovely! The heron from your part of the world that was wintering in my part of the world just went home, too!
ReplyDeleteWow! That is neat to imagine sharing birds!
DeleteLovely poem, and I also enjoyed learning a bit more about ospreys.
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by your A-Z license plate poetry challenge. Fascinating reading about the osprey. Funny how they take "separate vacations" and then meet up again to raise a new family.
ReplyDeleteI like how your poem gives the reader a close-up look at the tangled nest, and then zooms out to the pine tree grasping its granite ledge.
ReplyDelete