Osprey--The Ultimate Fisher

One of the highlights of last Saturday's bird walk at Hills Creek State Park was watching an osprey make two dives into the lake and coming up (on the second one) with a small perch for it's dinner. The movies included in the clip below show ospreys doing much, much better. There are three distinct scenes. In the first, the bird takes advantage of a target rich environment and comes up with one fish for each talon--or so it seems. The second bird dives completely under the water as it goes after a bottom dwelling fluke or flounder. (Watch the bird shake itself while in flight--just like a dog--to rid itself of excess water.) The third bird captures what looks like a salmon or large trout--and almost finds it's too big to handle. Almost. Use the full screen option to get the best view.