Strange Osprey Behavior
Osprey Yesterday I went over to Lake Jesup, and I saw an Osprey flying low over the water. It made three or four passes just above the surface, and it seemed to be dragging its feet in the water. I first guessed that it was cleaning fish guts off of them. But when I looked more closely, I noticed that it was putting its bill into the water. The bird was pretty far away on a foggy morning, so my pictures aren't fantastic, but you can clearly see the behavior. I've never seen an Osprey do this before. I did a little research online to see if others had observed this same behavior. I did find a few people who were equally puzzled by it. Some believe it's a fishing technique, but from what I saw yesterday, it didn't appear to be so. It was dragging its feet behind it, and I don't see how it could catch a fish that way. Others thought it was collecting water for hatchlings, but I doubt that's the case in December here. So my best guess is that it's dri...