Retro Blog... Osprey's Grab and Loss, the Fish That Got Away

Original posting:  April 8, 2014  

Got up early and decided to go to the San Elijo Lagoon today. The weather was perfect and hopes were high to get some good shots.

Still too early for the parking lot gate to be opened at the San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center, so I parked off the street, east side of the lagoon off Manchester Drive, hoping to find some interesting bird subjects in the thick willows. The first bird subject today was the male Red-winged Blackbird. Only the male is black and has the red wing coloring on his shoulders.

The females are rufus colored, looking more like a big streaked sparrow than a blackbird. Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus measures 8.75 inches long with a wingspan of 13 inches.

Walking northwest towards the Visitor Center, I spotted an Osprey that has just grabbed a huge fish in the tide channel and dragged it onto shore. It looked like a huge carp. The fish was thrashing, twisting, flapping, fighting for its life. The Osprey hanging on with all his strength!

This young Osprey is looking a little dwarfed next to his giant fish. Even with his height of 23 inches and with a wingspan of 63 inches!

The fish twists and turns while the Osprey has his wings out full for balance. It is taking maximum effort just to hold on to his prey.

The Osprey makes a valiant attempt to lift off and get airborne with his huge prey. Ospreys weigh about 3.5 pounds  but males may be up to 1/3 smaller than the females and this big fish looks like it may be quite a bit heavier then this young male Osprey!

Wings outstretched and starts to pump... he can't get off the ground!

The Osprey flaps his powerful wings a few more times showing off his new adult feathers. It is really noticeable from this angle.

You could see that he is making a tough decision as the crows are starting to attack and harass him.

He starts to unhook his talons out of the fish. 

All his talons are out... He has decided to let it go.

The Osprey takes flight, heading west. We can see his nice dark adult tail feathers in this photo. 

But makes a loop and comes back around. The fish looks too good to not give it another try. It is still beached and not back in the water yet.

 

As the Osprey looks over the beached fish, he flies over me. We get a nice close look at this handsome youngster.

He goes for the fish again! Maybe if he just grabs it while he has his wings up and pumping... could it work?

The Osprey grabs the fish.

The fish was resting but the talons coming into its side makes him go into a rage! He is now thrashing and fighting, trying to get back into the water.

The fish is out of control, going wild and into a frenzy, the Osprey's talons are slipping out of its side. 

In an instant, the Osprey makes a decision to abandon his prey again realizing that it is too full of fight and too heavy to lift. 

 

The Osprey takes flight again leaving the fish flapping and thrashing its way back into the water. In a few seconds the fish is back in the lagoon and now has disappeared into the cloudy waters.

The disappointed Osprey circles again looking to see if the fish is visible to attack again but it has disappeared.

He flies by and gives me a look as if to ask "did you see the size of that fish? It was HUGE!!" lol... I'm sure he will get his fish today but it may be a bit smaller than the giant he grappled with today.

Grab yourself some sunshine and have a great week everyone!!