Osprey Celebrating Good Friday

Early on Good Friday, as our dog, Maddie, and I were heading home from our morning walk, I noticed an osprey orbiting the neighborhood. Something dangled from his talons, but he was too high to see if it were a fish or something else. Maddie and I watched as he continued to fly in wide, lazy circles a few hundred feet above us, but with each circle he flew lower and ever closer to the large live oak tree behind our neighbor's house. We often see this particular osprey in this tree, especially during the spring and summer months.

Just as Maddie and I arrived at our driveway, the osprey landed gently on one of the tree's top branches. Perfect timing! I took Maddie inside, grabbed my camera, and went into the backyard. Sure enough, he was still there, high atop the tallest tree in the neighborhood. There appeared to be something on the branch with him, but he was too far away to see if it were a fish or just a bump on the branch. Fortunately my good telephoto lens solved the problem. As I moved around my neighbor's yard searching for the best position, I took a mess of photos, and have included a couple of them below. To view them up close and personal, click on the photos.

Osprey checking me out

When I downloaded the photos to the PC and looked at them via Photoshop, I was truly surprised at the size of the fish he had carried to the tree. The poor fish looked as if he had died of fright and the osprey's expression simply emphasized his status as a particularly efficient predator.

Osprey guarding his catch

As is fitting on Good Friday, the osprey was eating only fish. It is, of course, a day of abstinence, when we Catholics abstain from eating meat. But it's also a day in which we fast, and the size of that fish might be a bit problematic.