Rickubis Bird Page #2c: Ospreys
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Welcome to Brazos Bend State Park. That's me on the trail at BBSP in August of 2019.  I've collected my captures of Ospreys here. There is only one species of Osprey,
Pandion haliaetus, and they live all over the world! Although I have seen Osprey at BBSP, I've seen them more often at other places, especially at Fiorenza Park.

02/10/2024 (uploaded 12/23/2024)  Another Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) at Fiorenza Park North. I'd started watching this one as it flew high overhead. It circled over the North section
of the lake, extended its talons, then flew on.  It touched lightly at the top of a bare tree.
 

But it didn't land. It might have realized that the branches were too small for it. Then it moved closer to the surface of the water.
 

It flew down and captured a fish. I caught that in shaky video from far away. I followed it as it landed in a tree closer to me. Then I moved to get  a better view, and shot video while it ate.
 

I watched it eat the entire fish.
 

I am always fascinated by how quickly a raptor can eat a carcass, even while taking such tiny bites with its beak.
 

A Cormorant appeared on the end of the branch for a short time. I don't know for sure if the Osprey opened its wings as a threat display, or was just keeping its balance.
 

It dropped the last bit of tail (that appeared to be accidental) then cleaned its beak on the branch. Then I left.  I've put the various video clips with some photos into this edited video.
 

01/20/2024  I went to Fiorenza Park, because it was sunny, and I wanted to see if there were any effects from the recent cold weather.  I didn't stay for
long, because it was still pretty cold. But there are always birds there, and of course, possibly Bald Eagles. No Eagles on this day, though. 
A little while later, I found an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) perched on a tree. I walked towards it, and it flew to another tree. Then I watched it for about an hour.  Almost every
time I've visited this park, I have at least seen an Osprey. Sometimes the contact is pretty close, and sometimes it's far away.
   

05/29/2023 (uploaded 3/21/2024)  At Fiorenza Park North. An Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) was on one of the branches hanging over the water.  I often hear the calls of Ospreys when I
visit this park. This one had a fish. So, I watched it for about 40 minutes as it ate. This first batch of images show the Osprey moving the fish by lifting it with one of its marvelous talons as it
ate the carcass.
    
    
    
After the Osprey finished, it cleaned its beak by rapidly rubbing it on the branch it was standing on. It made several passes, rubbing one side of its face, then the other-in a motion similar
that resembled honing-on the branch. The images below are frames from video showing just one pass on each side. This is all on the video here.
    
    
    
I left before the Osprey did. After cleaning its face, it rested on the branch. Something in the water must have caught its attention, and I thought I might get to see it dive. The Osprey didn't
leap. But, I captured its head movements as it focused on something below. The images below are frames from the video showing it moving its head side-to-side, possibly to shift the focus
of its binocular vision.  This is all on the video here.
    
    
 

02/09/2023  I took the ramp off of Westpark Tollway to go to Fiorenza Park North. An Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) was on one of the street lights overlooking the ramp,
 found a place to park, and started taking pictures and video. I often hear the calls of Ospreys when I visit this park. But I many times, I can't find the one that's calling because its voice carries
 far.  I was lucky this morning.  I also got a close look at the Osprey's technique while it swiftly cut pieces from this fish.  The images below are frames from the video clips. One segment
shows how far away I was from the Osprey, and why it seemed to ignore my presence (the first three images below).  It also shows how far the sound of the chirps can carry.  The hook on the
 end of the beak worked well for cutting into the fish, while side-to-side twists cut and pulled the meat. 
Ospreys are the only species in the family Pandionidae (separate from the other raptors, like hawks, eagles, falcons). They live in regions all over the world. Their diet is almost exclusively fish. 
They can swivel their outer toes so they point backwards. This allows a "pincer" to form, with 2 talons on each side. This arrangement allows a stronger, balanced grip on prey. 
Owls are the only other birds of prey that can do this.
   
    

I've found many references to the Osprey's calls; but few indications of what the calls are for.  "Communicative  Behavior in Breeding Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus): Description and
Relationship  of Signals to Life History (V. Bretagnolle and J. Thibault  1993)" had the  most detail.But sometimes the  purpose of a movement or sound is not clear to human observers.  
The Osprey scanned the sky around it, and then called again. Was it claiming territory? Or warning others away from the fish? As usual with the animals I observe, the Osprey would not tell
me. I left the Osprey to finish its breakfast. Again, here's the link to the video clips.  
   

04/15/2018 . At Brazos Bend State Parkout it was nearly 60 � F.  I was walking along the West Loop of the Elm Lake trail, when I saw an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) in one of the dead trees
on the island.  The Osprey was about 75 yards away, so I stopped and started filming at 480 fps, hoping to catch it taking off. I did! And was able to crop a nice video from the
original capture.  The images below are frame grabs from the video, which can be seen at this link. The video shows in great detail the flight mechanics of the Osprey taking off.  I spend a lot of time
at a park nearer downtown Houston, and I almost always see an Osprey there, but they are relatively rare sight at BBSP.  It was a wonderful morning!

    

  

On the next day, 11/30/2008, I was at Brazos Bend State park. I hadn't been there very long before I met Chuck, another of the park Volunteers. He told me that I'd just missed an Bald Eagle 
flying over by about 5 minutes. Just a few minutes later, I noticed an Osprey over by the islands on 40 Acre Lake. We watched the Osprey hunting for quite a while. I snapped pictures, and shot 
some video clips. At one point, the Osprey dove into the water, and we thought that it caught a fish.
On examining the photos, however, it was found that the "fish" appeared to be a stick or piece of bark. What happened? Why did the Osprey "capture" it, and then afterwards, why did the Osprey
continue carrying it? Today's RICKUBISCAM shot is one of the photos of the Osprey flying off with the piece of wood.
Below are two more pictures of the Osprey flying with the stick.
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                     OSPREY AND STICK 1                                             OSPREY AND STICK   2                                                     FRAMEGRAB 01                          

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                          FRAMEGRAB 02                                                               FRAMEGRAB 03                                                    RICKUBISCAM SHOT

This camera can shoot photos at an incredibly fast rate, and also can capture video clips at high framerates.  During one of the Osprey's passes above me, I decided to film it flying by at 210 frames 
per second (FPS).   A few frames from the video clip can be seen as captured frames above. The video video clip of this Osprey flying by can be seen here (wmv 8.5 mb).


Added 03/07/06 :  On Feb. 26, I was able to watch an Osprey hunting over 40 Acre Lake. It usually didn't get very close, but the 25x optical zoom on the camcorder brings it close 
enough to see.  The image below (OSPREY PASSING) is a frame from this short video clip (wmv 5676kb) of the Osprey. This new digital camcorder captures "interleaved" video
frames, which makes taking single frames from the video very difficult.
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                        OSPREY PASSING BY                                                RED SHOULDERED HAWK                                                IT SEES ME
We were able to watch the Osprey for a while, and it would do the "hover" maneuver shown in the clip from time to time. The Osprey appears to be watching
intently while hovering. We did see the Osprey dive, but it was on the other side of the island. It came up with a fish, and ate it on a treetop.
On March 5th, I didn't get to see the Eagle (OK, maybe not "the" Eagle, but perhaps one of the Eagles), but I saw a number of Red-Shouldered Hawks before I went inside to present a 
program. I got a few good photos of one of them. The pictures above (RED SHOULDERED, and IT SEES ME) are cropped from the best one.
I'm not a "birder", that is, a person with a strong interest in birds. I believe I've stated that here before. But, like many people, I'm awed by the
beauty, majesty and power of the raptors. Where; ANYWHERE; can one go to see so many types of wild raptors actively hunting in their natural home?
It's been terrific!
October  26, 2002 Another rather cool, wet weekend.  I was on Galveston Island saturday, and while I was working on a PC belonging to my significant other, I heard an odd screeching outside.
Donna looked out the window, and exclaimed "That's an Osprey!" So, I looked out, and saw one flying into the wind, and sort of hovering from time to time.  We went out the back door, and saw
that the one making the sound was holding what appeared to be a small fish in its talons. This flapping/hovering/calling went on for a few minutes, and then I saw another osprey behind and 
below it. The first osprey then flew up, circled back, and then seemed to be trying to overtake the second osprey. This went on for a while, with both birds flying into the wind for a while, then slowly
gliding back, and with that circling around behavior.  Donna went back inside to continue her project.  I started back to the car for my camera. Then, a short while later, the osprey with the fish 
circled back and then flew directly over me, slowly,  about 30 feet high, and then over the house!  'What an excellent picture this would make!". I thought.  Yes, EXCELLENT! Unfortunately, I'd only
STARTED towards the car for my camera when this happened, and so I could only watch the osprey as my camera relaxed quietly in my car.


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                              OSPREY OVERHEAD!                                                         FLYING FISH!


I hurried to the car and returned with the camera. The osprey made another pass, though not as close. This time, I was able to get a short video clip with the Olympus C-700. The image above 
(FLYING FISH) is a frame from this video.  The two groups of 5 images below are sequences also taken from the video clip.  Click here to see the video clip. (flv video 280kb) Sometime later,
we were driving from Donna's house, when we saw a solitary osprey on top of a power line pole. I stopped the car, and tried to get close enough to get a picture. The pole was too high for this, 
though, and even with the 10x optical zoom on my camera, the pictures didn't come out well; especially against the bright grey sky.  However, as I slowly moved closer, the osprey cried once..
.then twice...another time or so, and then it took off, and flew over me. That's when I took this picture (OSPREY OVERHEAD!, above).  Next time will be better.

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         IMAGE SEQUENCE  2A                                                               2B                                                                          2C                                                               2D                                                          2E

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         IMAGE SEQUENCE  3A                                                              3B                                                                           3C                                                                             3D                                                                    3E
 
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