Return of Two Messengers

Osprey Surveying the Tohickon – Photo: L. Weikel

There must be something I need to reflect upon more deeply that connects 2019 and 2021 than I’m realizing. I find it peculiar that in the span of two short days I’ve now experienced the return of two messengers that I only saw for the first time ever in 2019.

As I mentioned in my recent post, until I awakened on my birthday in 2019, I’d never seen a Pileated Woodpecker ‘in the feather.’ And after that single, exciting sighting two years ago, where it pecked (I should say drilled) its presence into my awareness right outside my bedroom window, I’ve not seen another one. Until two days ago.

And wow – witnessing the dance of those two Pileateds up and down and round and round the two trees just behind my porch was an astonishing opportunity. It’s hard to believe they didn’t sense my presence; they hung around for close to half an hour, and all that while, I was moving around, trying to get the best photos and videos of them with my phone.

Imagine My Surprise

So it’s easy to imagine my surprise, then, when I drove by my beloved Tohickon Creek and stopped in the middle of the road. I was only driving past my favorite place to sit and write because the fisherpeople are still swamping the area and all the usual places I park along the bank were taken. I didn’t expect to see anything out of the ordinary, but I do try to keep an eye out for the occasional special appearance of a creature – winged or otherwise.

The cause for my abrupt stop in the middle of the one lane road was the majestic presence of an Osprey staring directly at me from across the creek. At first, the presence of brilliant white plumage made me think I’d spotted a Bald Eagle. But when I looked closer, I knew I’d never seen the white feathers all down the front of the chest of an eagle. And the ruff of white around its neck was so prominent, it almost looked like the ruffs sported by lords or other royal denizens from medieval times.

I had to check my bird app, and there it was, described in detail in my Peterson’s Field Guide app. “…Perched (ospreys) appear long-legged and often show a narrow white stripe between shoulders and body; their wingtips extend just beyond tail tip.”

The only other ospreys I’d ever seen before today had been flying overhead, once along the Delaware and the other along the Tohickon, but much further down the creek.

Two For Two

Making today’s sighting even more odd was the fact that, not 20 minutes later, I saw yet another osprey flying overhead as I drove down Route 611. I was miles away from the Tohickon at that point – so a double appearance within minutes of each other was…remarkable.

And to think: two years ago I saw one each of these heretofore rarely seen (by me) creatures. And this year, in the span of two days, I saw two of each of them.

I don’t know. Seems like a pattern that demands some attention.