Ospreys and Meal Service

Osprey with Lunch, Cascade Reservoir, Idaho

This handsome fellow was enjoying a nice lunch as WC drove up. The bird is backlit, and wearing jewelry, but it’s still a treat to get a tight shot on an Osprey with a fish. Or at least what’s left of a fish; the bird’s bulging crop shows you where the rest of the fish is.

And someone wasn’t very happy about that.

Osprey incubating eggs in nest box, Cascade Reservoir, Idaho

If you look closely, the incubating female is talking to her mate who is supposed to be feeding her. And being pretty noisy about it.

A belated delivery of what’s left of the fish, Cascade Reservoir, Idaho

Eventually, the male responded to the female’s complaints by carrying what was left of the fish to his mate, who was giving him the stink-eye.

Approaching the nest, Cascade Reservoir, Idaho

But instead of landing,

DoorDash by wing

He hovered briefly over the female and, as far as WC could tell,

And off to get some more

she seemed to take the fish from his talons as he hovered. The male didn’t land, and the fish never seemed to touch the nest. It went straight from the male’s talons to the female’s beak.

Mrs. WC, who studied the Osprey of Cascade Reservoir in graduate school, and who is the family expert on the species’ behavior, expresses no opinion.