The osprey fledgling was on a branch about 50 feet above me on a tree only 30 feet away. When an osprey is that close to the water and they spot a fish, they tilt over and drop almost straight down, like a falling rock. You get to see just what I got to see … and I was so close that my long lens couldn’t frame all of the osprey for the complete dive. Whew!
osprey
TagJordan Lake: Osprey Skipping!
Osprey’s often get rather messy down their chests when they are eating their fish. One way that an osprey can quickly clean his front is to skip across the water, chest parallel to the surface, and at very high speed scrape clean his front, lickety-split. All ospreys do this – but you have to recognize the difference in the dive as they head for a cleaning session if you want to try to catch the action. This fledgling skipped 5 times before going aloft.
Jordan Lake: Osprey Fledgling Landing, 4 photos 09-27-2019
Thought y’all might like to see just how handsome this osprey fledgling was as he was heading for the snag right in front of me.
Jordan Lake: Osprey Fledgling Gets His Fish
The osprey fledgling manages to catch a fish but has some trouble keeping it safe and secure where he can eat it. This is the same osprey fledgling that gave us his expressions in yesterday’s slideshow.
Jordan Lake: Osprey Expressions
Ospreys have very animated faces. The fledglings get very expressive. This one flew in and surveyed the scene, glanced at me and went back to watching the lake for a fish to catch.
Jordan Lake: Surprised Osprey Fledgling 09-08-2019
This female fledgling kept looking down at her talons … almost as if she were surprised that she had caught her very own fish! She was beautiful in the early morning light. The youngster’s red-orange eye color is typical of a fledgling – an adult osprey has a bright golden eye.
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