Hellgate Osprey - Sum-eh's Return, Sibling Reunion Part 2 - W 8/21/24

Sum-eh had taken off at the end of Part 1 - here we see she returns about fifteen minutes later as night is falling. Brother Antali is still on the perch he loves but almost loses his balance as he missteps during turning around, focusing on sister flying in.
They both vocalize their greetings to each other, then Sum-eh is a lot more vocal than she had been earlier. Seems to me she was telling brother - "Hey, where are our parents? I'm ready for a fish, aren't you? Have you seen them?" as she kept searching the skies all around. Then poof - she takes off w/a chirp.
In less than two minutes, Sum-eh flies back in, chirping, lands and continues w/her eyes to the skies. Clearly she wants to see a parent w/a fish asap! =D
But she quiets down, her vocalizations are not loud, so to me, it's more like she's chattering to brother. She chills, watches the few wasps dashing about the nest, pecks at what might be nestover fish pieces, but are not bec she doesn't eat them. Then, she lays down on the nest.
Now we have two siblings simply chillin' at their nest. Antali does some preening on the perch, Sum-eh just looks around, her eyes to the skies. At some point, we see Sum-eh change positions, seeming to be trying to get more comfy laying in the nest. She increases the volume of her fish calls as night's blanket is fast falling upon them...
At one point, Sum-eh stands up and her vocals get loud bec she sees what it seemed to be a parent coming in. She got into their typical crouched stance, as if ready to jump on a fish delivered, but alas it was not to be. We could not see who flew by, but clearly somebirdy did. Whoever it was, they just kept right on going, so Sum-eh carried on w/her fish calls.
Both birds stood on one foot for a very long time - do you know why they do that? For those who may not, it reduces heat loss. They can cut their body's heat loss in half by tucking up one of their unfeathered legs which is where they lose body heat. Information online about this also states that it might be more efficient for them bec it places one foot directly beneath their center of gravity. Others out there theorize that it might just be more comfortable for birds w/long legs. We don't always see those osprey long legs but yes, they do have them! Cool huh?
Sum-eh remained standing and fish calling as brother Antali stayed silent. Sometimes he preened, other times just chilled, watching sister and the skies and at times, briefly nodding off. Finally, we see Sum-eh takes off at video's end. She prefers spending the nights elsewhere out there, perhaps in a tree where one or both of their parents may be.
It's wonderful to enjoy these two wild and very young birds of prey together at their nest bec we never know when it will happen. They are absolutely gorgeous and completely healthy looking. Both of them are coming right along in their maturing process as they ready for a HUGE journey to come. Incredible to consider that migration, but let's not talk about that right now. Let's just keep on enjoying every single moment that we have to see them. It is all such a blessing to witness, isn't it?
~Thanks for watching!
TYSVM SHOUT OUT TO The Montana Osprey Project and The Cornell Lab Bird Cams!