Birds

May 2017

All Pages of This Report

Continued from page 2 ...

While taking a walk we met a man who asked if we had seen any good wildlife on the walk; we hadn't. He had, and told us where we could see Osprey ... lots of Osprey, diving for fish. So the next day we went and saw this amazing sight. To try to share some of the amazement, we have a couple of slideshows that are series of pictures showing some of the action.

Osprey are all wings and talons!

Here is an osprey catching a fish; if you put your cursor over the slideshow it will pause on the current picture:

Osprey in flight with a fish in its talons against a background of green branches — Image 1 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey catching a fish in the water — Image 2 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey splashing in the water while grabbing a fish — Image 4 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey floating low in the water with its wings spread wide — Image 5 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey rising from the water with one wing lifted high — Image 3 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey lifting out of the water with a fish — Image 6 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey crouched low over the water with its wings spread over a fish — Image 7 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey taking off from the water with a fish in its talons — Image 8 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey lifting clear of the water with a fish dangling beneath it — Image 9 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey flying low over the water with a fish in its talons — Image 10 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey flying just above the water with a fish — Image 11 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey skimming low over the water with a fish beneath its body — Image 12 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey banking low over the water with a fish partly hidden below its body — Image 13 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey flying forward low over the water with a fish in its talons — Image 14 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey flying upward with both wings raised and a fish hanging below — Image 15 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey banking over rippled water with a fish partly visible below — Image 16 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey flying low over choppy water after a catch — Image 17 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey in low flight over the water carrying a fish — Image 19 Osprey catching a fish

An Osprey in flight, carrying a fish:

Osprey in flight against the sky carrying a fish

Here is a different slideshow of an Osprey div & catch:

Osprey splashing in shallow water near the grassy bank — Image 1 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey in the water with its wings raised as it grabs a fish — Image 2 Osprey catching a fish

Rear view of an osprey lifting a fish from the water — Image 4 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey rising toward the camera with a fish and water splashing around it — Image 5 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey pulling a fish from the water near the grassy edge — Image 3 Osprey catching a fish

Rear view of an osprey taking off with a fish over the stream — Image 6 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey flying low over the stream with a fish clasped below it — Image 7 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey continuing low over the stream with a fish in its talons — Image 8 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey flying low above the water with a fish hanging head-down — Image 9 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey in side view carrying a fish just above the water — Image 10 Osprey catching a fish

Osprey climbing higher with a fish in its talons — Image 11 Osprey catching a fish

Rear view of an osprey flying off with a fish — Image 12 Osprey catching a fish

Distant osprey flying above turbulent water with a fish — Image 13 Osprey catching a fish

Every dive we saw was successful. The Osprey would hover and identify a fish before making their dive. As we stood there, Anne said in amazement to Paul "That Osprey has 2 fish!" Paul gave her that expected you-are-crazy look. Except when we got back, a picure proved that yes, that Osprey had 2 fish in its talons. This next picture is not for the squeamish; you might want to scroll down quickly to the picture after that if you are. And yes, those are drops of blood falling from the fish.

Osprey in flight carrying two fish, with drops falling below

All this diving is wet business!

Osprey flying toward the camera with two fish in its talons and water droplets around it

A couple more images of Osprey before we move on:

Osprey in flight carrying fish

Side view of an osprey in flight carrying two fish

We saw Osprey in other locations as well, just not as densely populated. Here is a picture of Ram Island Lighthouse, and the small island in front of it that has an Osprey nest. At the right of this next picture is the next, and there is an Osprey showing both in the next (on the edge of it) and just above the trees, flying in.

Ram Island Lighthouse and keeper's house beyond a rocky island with an osprey nest in a dead tree at the right

As amazing as the Osprey were, there were other bird sightings and activities that were interesting. At the same location where we saw all the Osprey, there were also many Cormorants.

Cormorant flying across a pale sky with bare branches at the edges

We love this picture of a gull looking under the water.

Gull with its head submerged underwater

Here is another slideshow, and this is the story behind it: We saw an Eider (sorry, no picture of it) dive under the water surface to catch a meal. While it was under, a Herring Gull swooped in, went into the water, and took the crab away from the Eider. As it triumphantly flew away, a second gull came in and attempted to get the crab; the 2nd gull was not successful.