Looking for the Osprey on Rios

I decide to go to Rios "pole trail" today and look for the young Osprey that has been hanging out by the train tracks.... but it's not long into my morning walk before Rios trail...aka.. "the wild side".... reveals a life and death drama playing out in the middle of the lagoon.....

I love walking on Rios trails.. the Solana Beach side of the San Elijo Lagoon. It is a little wild and sometimes the traffic of all the raptors hunting in the area can get a little intense....But today everything looks so very peaceful... or is it just the calm before the storm?

Two Snowy Egrets passing by.... a picture of calm.

  

As I make my way to the pole trail on Rios, I spot a Great Blue Heron far in the center of the lagoon.. It appears that he had just caught the prey.. and it's a Eared Grebe!!  He is thrashing it and stabbing and shaking it with maximum force! I get a far distance shot as he picks it up for a instant before he goes back to thrashing it again... This is nature in the raw... it's all about survival...

After a prolonged brutal battering of the prey with his deadly beak and making sure the prey is dead, the Great Blue Heron tries valiantly to swallow this plump prey....but the Grebe just gets stuck at the front of his throat..it's too plump.. too wide to pass through his mouth/beak

opening and down his throat....

For over 40 minutes.. I watch as the GBH tries to swallow the Grebe...dipping it in water constantly...changing the angle to swallow.. Belly up.. no... Back side up... no.. Sideways...noooo... Every effort the GBH makes.. he fails to consume the Grebe

Exhaustion and the realization that it is impossible to swallow the Grebe...he leaves it on the ground and flies away to hunt for the trapped fish at the south end of the lagoon...

I really thought that I was going to see the Great Blue Heron swallow that Grebe as he did the Clapper Rail that he captured a few weeks ago... Here is a photo  of the GBH just when he grabbed the California Light Footed Clapper Rail!

Looking north on the Pole trail.. I notice a large bird on top of a small utility pole... it's the Osprey!! ..

I walk closer to the perched Osprey.. and it starts to call out.. warning calls.. She has a fish and she doesn't want anyone to take it.. I approach with caution....
No fast moves.. just a steady pace..I need to get past the wires on the poles.. Start to click away.. The Osprey is wary of my approach..and watches my every move...

Just a little closer... and Ooops.. she flies.. I scramble to focus and capture her departure... she gives me a nice flight shot...

 

These shots really shows off her talons grabbing her half eaten fish... That bulge in front at the base of her neck is her crop.. the bulge shows

she has been eating well....

This is truly a beautiful Osprey.. I believe it to be a female.. She has been hanging around our Lagoon for a few months now.. but this is the first close-up of her in flight with prey... love those talons.... They are like giant fish hooks..

I am thrilled to get some close-ups..

Wings fully stretched..... Ospreys have a wing span of 63 inches!!

The Osprey quickly flies across the lagoon ....it's time for me to head home.. hope to see more of this beautiful bird of prey in the future

Going back towards the trailhead..a Snowy Egret makes a landing near-by.. probably staking out his territory for low tide.. That's when he can get his fill of shrimp.

Have a beautiful Sunday everyone.....