Osprey with Catch of the Day
My parents spend the winter in the Dunedin, FL. It’s a beautiful little town about 30 minutes north and west of Tampa. We we’re able to get away from the store for a long weekend the end of January and were so excited to see all of the wildlife and birds in the area. We played one round of golf, not very well if I might add, and saw more alligators than I’d like to see in a lifetime. I also saw my first female Cardinal. I know that might sound like a rather ordinary sighting, but for someone that grew up in Colorado, it was a life bird for me!
One of the greatest things about Dunedin is the community committment to birds and birding. On almost every street light you came upon, there was an old satellite dish or wooden platform built for Osprey to nest. Everywhere you looked there was a female in the nest tending her eggs, and a male bringing the days’ catch back to feed mama. At a small executive golf course about 1 1/2 blocks from my parents home there is an Osprey nest with a nest-cam for everyone to check in on the families’ progress. If you would like to view the nest, click on the following link and you will be allowed to view it for about 60 seconds. The site times out so that everyone can get a chance to look at the nest. It’s not exactly like being in Florida for the winter, but if you would like to check this great site out, I highly recommend it.
If you’re lucky to ever see an Osprey catch a fish, watch as they begin to fly away with it in their talons. Osprey are the only raptor that can actually move the fish in their talons from front to back rather than sideways, allowing them to fly more aerodynamically.
