OSPREY GALLERY
(Pandion haliaetus)

I have been using Osprey backpacks for many years, and have hiked with them on my back all over the world.  Strangely enough, I had no idea what an Osprey looked like!  That sad state of affairs changed on Sunday, April 19, 2020, when I paid a visit to Salt Lake, near Luling, Texas.  Salt Lake is listed on E-bird as a hot-spot, despite the fact that, by all appearances, it is on private property and bird watching there must take place at a distance, from the public road.  It was early afternoon when I visited and it was sunny and windy.  With my binoculars, I observed three birds perched on two pipe structures out near the middle of the lake.  I used my Nikon P1000 to photograph the birds and, when I got home, positively identified one as an Osprey.  Now that I know what they look like and the type of habitat they are attracted to, I hope to see and photograph many more in the future.

eBird describes the Osprey as a large, mostly white raptor that cruises over lakes, rivers, and coastal waterways in search of fish. Impressively widespread: found on every continent except Antarctica. Mostly white head and underparts; dark brown back. In flight, holds wings with a kink in the wrist (shaped like an “M”). Stick nests are conspicuous on top of channel markers, utility poles and high platforms near water. Often seen plunging feet-first into water from high in the air to grab fish.

My first Osprey! April 19, 2020, Salt Lake, Guadalupe County, Texas.
When I first spotted the Osprey, it was sharing a perch with another bird. April 19, 2020, Salt Lake, Texas.
April 19, 2020, Salt Lake, Texas.
April 19, 2020, Salt Lake, Texas.
Lunchtime at Salt Lake! April 24, 2019.
My trusty Osprey pack, at the Sun Gate, high above the ruins at Machu Picchu, Peru. April 18, 2017.

Some “Cool Facts” About the Osprey, From All About Birds:

  • An Osprey may log more than 160,000 migration miles during its 15-to-20-year lifetime. Scientists track Ospreys by strapping lightweight satellite transmitters to the birds’ backs. The devices pinpoint an Osprey’s location to within a few hundred yards and last for 2-3 years. During 13 days in 2008, one Osprey flew 2,700 miles—from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, to French Guiana, South America.
  • Ospreys are unusual among hawks in possessing a reversible outer toe that allows them to grasp with two toes in front and two behind. Barbed pads on the soles of the birds’ feet help them grip slippery fish. When flying with prey, an Osprey lines up its catch head first for less wind resistance.
  • Ospreys are excellent anglers. Over several studies, Ospreys caught fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates sometimes as high as 70 percent. The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you throw your line in the water.
  • The Osprey readily builds its nest on manmade structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in reestablishing Ospreys in areas where they had disappeared. In some areas nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures.
  • Osprey eggs do not hatch all at once. Rather, the first chick emerges up to five days before the last one. The older hatchling dominates its younger siblings, and can monopolize the food brought by the parents. If food is abundant, chicks share meals in relative harmony; in times of scarcity, younger ones may starve to death.
  • The name “Osprey” made its first appearance around 1460, via the Medieval Latin phrase for “bird of prey” (avis prede). Some wordsmiths trace the name even further back, to the Latin for “bone-breaker”—ossifragus.
  • The oldest known Osprey was at least 25 years, 2 months old, and lived in Virginia. It was banded in 1973, and found in 1998.