osprey flight

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By Jordan Lake Dam: Osprey 4 photos 03/11/2019
Osprey Fish Dance in 4 Steps
 
The osprey is superb at hovering over the water, watching a fish.
 
 
The twist in midair to track the fish.
 
 
The impact into the Haw River, which is running at 10,000 cubic feet per second. 
See this morning’s FB video and realize this approximately 3 pound bird is fishing in FAST moving water.
 
 
Fish caught.  Now to make a run for the nest before the bald eagles realize the osprey has a catch.
 
 

By Jordan Lake Event: Do Bald Eagles and Ospreys Make Good Neighbors?

Event Invitation:  Saturday, March 23, 2019, from 2:00 to 3:00PM.

The dynamic fish hunter the Osprey, has started its late winter migration back towards the Lake.  What a great time to discuss the interactions of the Ospreys and Bald Eagles of Jordan Lake!  Please join Doc Ellen and Ranger McMurray for an indoor/outdoor presentation about these magnificent predators.  We will also discuss other migratory birds, warblers, sparrows etc. that come north in the spring. Weather permitting, we will spend some time outside after the indoor portion.  Please dress accordingly.  No reservations required, just show up!  
For questions, email steve.mcmurray@ncparks.gov or contact Doc Ellen via her Facebook Page.
 
An Osprey parent and an immature Bald Eagle face off because the eagle got too close to the osprey’s nest.

By JL Raptor Report: Concern at Ranger Cove 4 photos, 07/12/2018
Ranger Cove Concern
 
The osprey nest in Ranger Cove has 2 fledglings – Piper and Broken Feather.
I had expected Broken Feather to be the first to fledge as she had been the most active in trampolining and muscle building.
Her brother Piper fledged several days before she did.
I did not see Broken Feather fledge – it was almost 2 days before I got back to the Cove and found her in the air – kinda.
All fledgling raptors do a lot of crash landings as they learn to fly so I wasn’t too concerned that she was having some troubles.
Then over the past two days I realized that her turns were erratic and she had to fight hard to gain altitude back into the nest.
Broken Feather finally got within good range of my lens and I could see her problem.  
She is missing a large chunk of the the right hand side of the midpoint of her tail feathers.
The youngster has a LOT of grit.  She keeps working at the flying.
PS: I had originally called her Bossy, but you can see why I changed her name.
Please keep her in your thoughts and I will do my best to post her progress.
 
Here is Broken Feather (the upper osprey) and her brother Piper (the lower bird).
 
Here you can see the section of tail feathers she is missing.  
Note also the white “rivets” at the ends of her wing feathers – typical for a juvenile osprey.
 
In this photo Broken Feather looks pretty normal.  She is showing the typical red-orange juvenile osprey eye.
 
At attempt at a landing and you can see the disrupted tail feather position.