Meeting The Osprey Family at Robb Field ( part 1 of 2 )

An Overcast Day at North Torrey Pines State Beach From Guy Fleming Trail North Viewpoint

Before you get confused, Robb's Field is not at Torrey Pines but at Ocean Beach. However, the first few pictures here were from Torrey Pines because that was how we found out about  the osprey family at Robb's Field. After hiking, we would spend some time at Guy Fleming Trail North View Point hoping for the baby peregrine falcons to give us another entertaining sky show. We knew they would not be around long, since soon they would be chased away by their parents once they learned to hunt on their own. We had been enjoying photographing the juvenile peregrine's behavior since maybe the Memorial Day Weekend. That Saturday however, it seemed the young peregrine falcons were not inspired to spread their wings in chilly air and overcast skies. For about 3 hours  at Guy Fleming Trail, the baby peregrine falcons did not entertain us. Three hours of waiting at Guy Fleming Trail may be that long for others, but for hubby and I, we could sit atop of Torrey Pines cliffs like forever simply watching the world go by.

North Torrey Pines State Beach ( from Guy Fleming Trail)

From the top of the cliffs, we enjoy watching the beach below us, the torrey pines swaying in the sea breeze, the wildflowers dotting the landscape, the squirrels,

the surfers, people walking on the beach, passing dolphins, and whatever more.

Dolphins As Seen from Guy Fleming Trail

Because of the time of year, there were a lot of bird photographers and enthusiasts waiting at Guy Fly Fleming Trail, so, learning some bird photography tips from them was an added bonus. It seemed everyone was wishing for the peregrines to show up, but they were simply not playful that time.

When I saw a lone bird flying below the cliffs above the water which I was confident was not sea gull, nor crow, nor cormorant, and of course, not pelican, the amateur bird watcher in me thought it was peregrine. :) I shouted, "THERE! below the cliffs!", which is what we usually do when we see peregrine so everybody could take picture. However, when one of the bird photographers saw the bird my lens was pointing at, he said, "nahhhh, can't be, that's just toooooooo slow!! that's an osprey!"

Osprey Seen From Guy Fleming Trail @ Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

Of course we laughed afterwards, because it seemed we all were hallucinating to be entertained by the peregrines again. Then, one of the bird photographers told us about the baby ospreys also at Robb Field in Ocean Beach. They said, they are much easier to photograph than the peregrines. With the aid of technology, the bird photographer was able to give me the exact location of the osprey's nest (through mobile google maps apps and gps locator). We were told there were 3 baby ospreys, and unlike peregrines, the ospreys eat together like one big family in their nest, the adults have yellow eyes, while the juvenile have orange eyes. So, we decided to leave Torrey Pines that time and we headed off to Ocean Beach. When we got there, with their detailed instruction, it was so easy for us to find the osprey's nest on top of the pole.

Juvenile Osprey Eating Fish On top of the Nest

We came in too late to see the family of ospreys, as what we have learned from one of the photographers that we met at Robb's Field that the baby ospreys already had learned to fly. But he said we would still have a lot of chances seeing them since they always go back to their nest to feed until the baby ospreys learn to hunt on their own. Anyway, we still enjoyed seeing that one baby osprey enjoying his "fish" meal. Of course, we took a lot of snaps.

 Baby Osprey With His Fish

 Baby Osprey Flying With The Fish

The Left Over Fish :) ( this was the fish that the baby osprey dropped when it flew)

It seemed the baby osprey was so enjoying his discovery of flight that he was simply hovering in the sky in small circle, until he landed on the pole near us.

 The Baby Osprey As it Landed on The Pole

Baby Osprey Showing Us His Wing Span :)

After a while, the baby osprey flew away towards the North side of the San Diego River Estuary (we were at the south side), which we were told where the family hangs around. Instead of following them to the other side of the river estuary, we went home because we were getting hungry because we had been out long since Torrey Pines. However, I wished to really see the osprey family together. So, we went back the following weekend, but it seemed, our osprey luck comes one at a time. We only saw 2 ospreys on the nest, which I thought at first were 2 babies, but after zooming the lens to them, we learned they were an adult ( yellow eyes) and baby ( orange eyes). 

Baby ( left, with orange eyes ) and adult (right, with yellow eyes)

Though it was only 2 of them on the nest, but we soon met the other members of the family later ( not just on the nest), because they flew away to lead us to the rest of the osprey family, which I will be sharing next.

♥♥