Observing Ospreys

Today was a slow raptor migration day but I saw so many other wonderful sights. As I walked along the edge of Nassau Sound out to my beach observation area I watched a tarpon that looked to be about 75-80 pounds clear the water with its entire body busting through a large pod of balled up fingerling mullet. I stopped and watched several other tarpon crashing on mullet pods making huge splashes, almost as if someone was throwing cinderblocks into the water.

I spent several hours observing 11 Osprey roosting in the pines near the beach. 3 did fly down the coast and joined the rest already in the trees. At about dead low tide they began one by one to fly out over the sound to hunt. They each came back with fingerling mullet and landed in the same roosts to eat.

Migration of all species ties into food source availability. The fall mullet run is in full swing and the osprey are stopping and feeding on them. I have observed that osprey don’t steal food from each other. They display no mantling (covering of their food with their wings). In many cases they placidly eat with a neighboring osprey only feet away. I have seen both bald and golden eagles chase osprey that are carrying fish. Ospreys don’t seem to harass each other the way other raptors will do. Falcons will swoop down on a roosting falcon in a mock stoop, disturbing the perching bird. Ospreys will land on the same branch as a roosting bird and there is no sign of alarm or aggression.

Swallows filled the sky by the hundreds confusing my long-range vision at times. Once I was seeing a dozen or so swallows careening in front of me when I noticed that one seemed larger and was flying in a much straighter line. When it came into range it turned out to be a Merlin migrating down the beach, the only one I saw today. I have seen far away butterflies look like migrating birds of prey until they came into range.

The first few Yellow-rumped Warblers arrived and I noticed that the wax myrtles have nearly ripe berries that the warblers will feed on most of the winter. This is another correlation between migration and food sources.