Recently, while meditating on the patio, I could hear the songs and sounds of nature all around me.

A chorus of bullfrogs from the marsh next door, and orioles scolding high up in the trees with catbirds squeaking on the fence, robins singing in the background with mallards quacking at each other on the lake. Doves cooing, red-winged blackbirds filling in the gaps, robins ever present with their song, sparrows always chiming in while nesting in the eves and Canada geese on the other side of the lake. Blue jays flitting about, a grackle waddling about the yard, and off in the distance the squawk of a flushed blue heron as the startling buzz of a hummingbird in my right ear brought me back to the surface.

Then came the startling, splash-like crash sound, much louder than a fish jumping, and I opened my eyes to see a widening circle in the water, but no sign of what made that circle happen. Time stood still as I kept waiting for what had made this impact. It seemed like 10 seconds went by, before the beaked head of an osprey began to surface in the center of that circle.

The bird was struggling to get its wings, like giant shoulders, out of the water. The bird was totally drenched as it began flapping the heavy feathered wings against the lake, pulling and twisting to get itself out of the water. It was then that I noticed the size of the largemouth bass it had locked in its talons.

The fish was so big, the osprey was desperate (it had no choice the talons could not release, ospreys have drowned by catching such a heavy fish) to pull it out of the lake. It slowly gained some altitude, flying just above the waterline as it headed for the trees and the nesting site over on Griswold Point. The bird barely cleared the tree line with that huge fish as it finally disappeared over the horizon.

Meanwhile I had not moved and my jaw was still agape from what I had just witnessed.

Thanks to Mother Nature for getting my day off to such a spectacular start.

Bill Humphreys lives in Old Lyme.

Your Turn is a chance for readers to submit stories and commentary. To contribute, email times@theday.com.