Hello, Osprey! Goodbye, Catfish!

Birders love when a new season rolls around because they anticipate seeing the return of familiar birds. Sometimes those new birds show up a little earlier than expected and provide a nice surprise. Such was the case for me March 18th as I was leaving a familiar birding hotspot in Utah County, Utah. I was about to end a short outing when I noticed my first-of-season Osprey flying against a bit of a headwind while towing a large fish in its talons. The bird chose to turn a nearby power pole into a plucking pole. I pulled alongside the road and remained in my truck to avoid flushing the bird. It turned out that when I reported my sighting of an Osprey to www.ebird.org it was the first Osprey to be reported for the year in Utah County and northern Utah.

The images below show the Osprey's typical bite, twist, and pull approach to eating prey.