Osprey Fishing

An adult Osprey arrives at the reservoir to do a little fishing,  She has a hungry offspring in tow and decides to teach it more about the art of   ' Diving for Dinner '

The juvenile is parked in a bank side tree to watch and the adult gains some height for the dive.

The first sign that she has spotted a fish comes when she stalls her flight while quickly deciding if she will dive for it

She flips over and goes into a steep swoop with her talons at the ready.

She crashes into the water talons first and if she has caught a fish she will wait a moment to muster the extra strength required to lift it clear of the water.

This time she has missed and she immediately works her wet wings to break clear of the water.

Her Main goal now is to regain some height to go through the whole procedure again to hopefully make a successful catch while she is still wet.

The trout in this reservoir can be quite big and just one would probably feed the two of them so I wish them better luck soon,

The trout are also very agile to the extent that in the sixteen hours that I have spent watching the Osprey complete at least a dozen dives over the last three days no fish have been taken but what a splendid experience of Osprey behaviour it has been.

More images of Osprey  'Down Time'  to follow in my next Blog and thanks to Jacko !