neighdoctor

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By Osprey Ballerina

Jordan Lake: this female Fledgling Osprey jumped from her perch high in a tree on one side of the cove. She was dashing straight across to the other side. Then abruptly the youngster threw on her air brakes, wrapped her wings around herself and looked over her shoulder, hard, down to the lake below. There the dancer hung for a long heartbeat. Then the osprey shrugged as if well nothing there after all and she turned her head back forward. Unwrapped her feathered wings cape and finished her flight to the other side. A true sky ballerina.

By Osprey Moon

Jordan Lake: Osprey Moon. The moon was setting. This fledgling female osprey had been trying hard to catch a fish. I managed to catch her as she made a transit of the moon.

By Early Start

Jordan Lake: H&G Nest. Hershey and Godiva have been very chatty of late. They have also started to repair their nest … and they are a month earlier than usual. I am not at all sure what the early start means! In the 1st photo that is Hershey up top and Godiva down below. The bald eagle in flight is Hershey.

By Small Fish Are Slippery!

Jordan Lake: small fish are slippery as this two year old bald eagle was finding out. She caught a fish in the normal way … with her talons. Once up in the air with the fish, the eagle realized that she just might drop it. Watch as the youngster figures out how to take the fish from her feet … in mid—air … only to realize she wanted to put it back between her feet. The young eagle never lost any altitude during all of the maneuvering… that was awesome!

By Rivets

Jordan Lake: In flight, the white marks at the end of each flight feather of a fledgling osprey look like dots (I call them “rivets” as at a distance they look metallic to me). This female fledgling gave me a very close fly-by. You can easily see that the white is actually an edging of the color at the feather tips. These “dots” wear off over the next 12-18 months and so by the time this osprey would return to Jordan Lake in about 2 years, she will have lost her rivets.