Photo courtesy: www.artexpertswebsite.com
An osprey is a formidable hunting bird. I first saw them in action on the Outer Banks. Hanging out at the beach one day, I noticed a hawk-like bird circling the ocean, shopping for dinner. He dove down feet first and plucked a fish right out of the water. Sometimes they get a fish that is a little too big and you can see them struggle with it as they fly back to their nests with dinner in claw.
Jimmy, owner of a local garden center, told me that he was standing in his parking lot one day, talking to a customer. She had just arrived in her bright red, freshly polished Mercedes.
“THUD!” What in the world? All eyes turned to the front of the bright red Mercedes, and there, flopping around on the hood was a fish. A pretty good sized fish, Jimmy didn’t say what kind. But definitely dinner lost for the osprey that just dropped him. The fish flopped around for a while, until Jimmy grabbed it up and added it to his fish pond (he sells a lot of goldfish and coy in addition to trees, shrubs and flowers).
“What are you going to do about that?” She asked pointing to the slimy fish trail on her bright red Mercedes. What?
“Can’t do anything about stuff that falls out of the sky, ” he said. However, he was kind enough to get a paper towel and clean off her hood.
WILD FACTS
Classification: Class: Aves Order: Falconiformes
Average Size: Length: 21 to 24 in., Wingspan: 59 to 72 in., Weight: 2.2 to 3.9 lbs., females are somewhat larger than males.
Food: Fish
Breeding: Monogamous. Breeding season early March to May. The incubation period for 2 to 4 eggs is 4 to 5 weeks.
From: http://www.ncwildlife.org/Wildlife_Species_Con/Profiles_new/osprey.pdf.
P.S. Visit Jimmy at Kitty Hawk Garden Center for all your outdoor needs!
