October 24, 2006
Osprey
The pix were taken from 4:55 PM to 5:05 PM.

The Osprey was feeding with catch on one of the dead overhanging branches perhaps 12 feet above the pond surface. S/he dropped her/his catch off the branch, then swept down to the pond surface, traveling at quite a clip, and gently drew his/her talons across the pond surface for
quite a distance, creating a fine filgree of ripples. S/he then returned to the same limb, where I snapped off a few more shots. The swooping/pond surface skimming was repeated, and s/he came to perch on another overhanging branch about 150 feet further down the shore (in
the golf course direction). I followed him/her and got the last few pix there.

In all my years of walking the pond (well over fifty), I've never seen an Osprey there. Quite exciting. I was out to get some shots of foliage (Did I ever get some!), and see if I could spot the first Canvas Back (still too early).

Photos and description by Stephen Merriman