ospreys of Jordan Lake

Tag

By Fisher Bird Breakfast Club

Quick survey of the breakfast flights at the Jordan Lake Dam tailrace riprap this morning. Just thought I would let y’all get a taste of how active the birds are being. At least three times I saw groups of 15 ospreys up in the air. There were 11 great egrets. 6 to 10 great blue herons. One green heron! If you get a chance, and even if you do not have binoculars or a telephoto lens, bring your chair and sit down at the riprap and just watch. The ospreys are fishing at the upper end of the river by the dam. I hope you get to go by and enjoy them.

Ospreys and Great Egrets

By Is the Osprey adult or fledgling?

When you cannot get close enough to an osprey to see its eye color (red/orange fledgling & yellow adult), especially in flight, and you want to know is it an adult or a fledgling. Take a look at the back of the bird! Fledgling has white points at the end of all of its feathers! Adult has beautiful brown flight feathers. 2 photos (adult left, fledgling right) so you can see the difference! Moncure, July 2025 & August 2014

adult osprey
fledgling osprey

By Shade!

Ospreys don’t have roofs over their nests, so no shade. Excessive heat is dangerous to all animals. Osprey parents, especially mom, give up their own comfort in order to actually make shade for their chicks. The parent will stand with wings outspread for incredibly long minutes to make sure their chicks are cool. Here are three examples of mom osprey as she becomes a life sustaining shade.

chick under mom
chick just in front of mom
typical shade stance (chick is out of sight)

By Daring Dive

Ospreys are one of the most daring fishers on the lake. This mama osprey actually dove in between the two walls of the dam’s tailrace to pick up a fish for her breakfast. I always catch my breath and hold it when I watch an osprey do this daring dive! I hope you enjoy the sequence. Jordan Lake, Moncure, NC, March, 2025