Osprey -- The Ultimate Fisher

http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/osprey.html ^

[navysealdad]

Hovering at moderate height, the osprey dramatically plunges down feet first to snatch fish from the water's surface. A shake of the head as it emerges from the water; the osprey carries its skilfully captured prey with its long talons.(Video)

[Amberdawn]

Nice Flounder! If only I could catch them so easily...

[FedsRStealingOurCountryFromUs]

I have seen these in person. There are some great YouTube videos of Ospreys fishing.. 5 to 6 ft. wing span makes their heads look tiny. Hard to believe a bird with this much wing can slam into the water and not damage itself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqGKX7Eofy4&feature=related

[75thOVI]

Very cool indeed. Ospreys are a fairly common bird here in Brevard County. Sunday we had one taking a bath in the retention pond outside our office. Really great to watch.

[doorgunner69]

That is one strong bird. That trout or whatever probably weighed more than him. Delightful watching him fighting for airspeed, and then getting the other talon hooked in for the flight to the nest.

No wonder my wife worries about our cats and owls.

[goseminoles]

Yeah... but its undersized by an inch or so. I think flounder have to be 12 inches for a keeper in Fl. Off the top of my head. Probably a $150 fine. :0)

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Fantastic video!

These shots give an idea of what those talons are like.

[PrivateIdaho]

We have a nest of them across the street from our house. Amazing birds, love watching them. They’re not always the best neighbors though, they can be very noisy at times and they occasionally drop dead fish and large branches in our yard.

[Bigg Red]

About 2 weeks ago, while we were camping in Southern Maryland on the Potomac River, my husband was seated outside reading. He heard a loud crack overhead and looked up in time to see an osprey carrying off a very large branch that he had just removed from a nearby tree. Probably doing a little home maintenance at the nest.

[Amberdawn]

Lol! For N.J. surf fisherman, the limit’s been LOWERED to 17”. Try catching that...SIGH....

[Boogieman]

Nice vid. I think the underwater shot was staged, though. It looks like he is picking up a dead fish that is laying on the bottom, if you pause the video and look. The fish is also a different color from the one he grabs in the real video.

[goseminoles]

That sucks. A 17” flounder isn’t easy. Especially when you’re only getting a half fish.

[rustbucket]

There is an osprey that spent the winter about five miles from my house. Here he is with a fish. I think they need the six-foot wing span to be able to lift fish that can be as heavy as they are.

We went down to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in South Texas this spring. There was a beach maybe 30 to 50 yards wide adjoining the Laguna Madre between the mainland and Padre Island. On a mile length of that beach we saw about 10 osprey standing on the beach eating the fish they caught. Because of the width of the beach, the birds could see any approaching predator.

The Laguna Madre is very shallow for a long distance offshore of this beach, so the ospreys had good fishing grounds, particularly when the sun was shining directly overhead.

Here is one of the Laguna Atascosa NWR osprey that took off from the beach while we were watching from the car 40 yards away. That's the Laguna Madre in the background. Shortly after I took this picture the bird reached down with its free foot and made a two-leg hold on the fish.

[Amberdawn]

You ain’t kiddin’.