male osprey

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By Jordan Lake: Ace the Daredevil Osprey 04-19-2019
Ace, the Daredevil Osprey!
In all the low light, incoming rain and wind that was starting to blow this morning, Ace put on a show.
 Ace was flying a dangerous path down the length of the fishing pier.
He skimmed the top of the railings and dove immediately into the river after a fish.
He missed both the railing and the fish.

By Jordan Lake Ospreys, 2 photos, 04-14-2019
a different aggression
 
I have seen eagles chase ospreys and other eagles, trying to get their fish.
I have seen fledgling ospreys chase each other trying to get the other’s fish.
Today I watched 2 adult male ospreys, over the Haw River, below the dam, get into a chase.
I don’t know what started the chase.  
There is not an osprey nest anywhere close by the dam so I don’t think nest protection was the basis.
These two tumbled and rolled and screamed above the riprap and up and out over the dam toward the lake.
You never know what you will see at Jordan Lake!
 
 
 
 

By Jordan Lake Ospreys: Shelter Osprey Nest 04-06-2019
Shelter Osprey Nest
 
In most raptors, the female bird is larger than the male.
This is easy to see in the ospreys and bald eagles at Jordan Lake.
You can certainly see the size difference in the parents of the Shelter Nest.
 Osprey Mom, heading to the left, is much bigger than Osprey Dad who is looking to the right.
Sometimes this size difference makes the female ospreys and bald eagles 25 – 30% bigger than the males.
This trait is known as gender dimorphism.
_ARK8902 Ebenezer 06-04-19 10-57-08 2 osprey dimorphic

By Jordan Lake Ospreys: Shelter Nest, 4 photos, 04-05-2019
The Shelter Ospreys are Busy!
 
We humans often have to stop construction on our homes when it rains.
 
Osprey Dad isn’t letting a shower slow him down as he brings nest lining home.
 
 
On the other hand, um talon, maybe he is a little put out with the rain.
 
 
Oh, well, he has settled in, waiting for Osprey Mom to arrive.
 

By Jordan Lake Dam: Osprey Shake 03/13/2019
Ospreys go in, I mean often way deep under water when fishing.
The dive picks up a lot of water on the body of the osprey.
Water weighs 8.35 pounds per gallon.
Flight calls for a bird without an excess load to haul into the air.
Ospreys do a shake to shed the excess water. The shake is just like what a wet dog does.
The shake starts at the beak and twists through to the tail.
Here you can see the osprey is ahead of the spray and the shake has gotten almost to the tail feathers.