I was out on the Penninsula last weekend as well. We were up at Shi-Shi
beach a few miles south of the tip (Cape Flattery).
>
>>As we walked down Rialto beach on the Olympic Penninsila, we caught sight
>>of an adult Osprey soaring above the crashing waves. It hovered, flapping
>>its majestic wings. It was searching for food below in the raging ocean.
>>To the right there soared a bald eagle. It was patrolling, waiting for
>>the Osprey to catch its prey so it could take it. We
>>watched the Osprey dive into the salt water and come out with....nothing.
>>We waited some more and soon went to explore the tide pools. Later a
>>father from our coompany of fourty saw the Osprey with a fish in its
>>talons. He did not see it catch its prey though.
>>
>>When the fish is stolen from the Osprey, what will the Osprey do?
>>
>> -Will

Will - last October we were at Sand Point (about 15 miles north of La
Push, near Cape Alava), and we saw an Osprey come back from the ocean
with a fish in its talons. While we watched, an adult Bald Eagle came
over the headland, maybe 100 feet away from the Osprey. Just then, the
Osprey dropped the fish, and it landed on the beach only a few feet away
from us. Maybe because we were right there, both the Bald Eagle and the
Osprey flew off (the Osprey kept going in the direction it had been
heading in). The fish was a Striped Sea-perch that weighed perhaps 1
pound. It was very pretty with orange and blue irridescent stripes on
it. You could see the puncture wounds from the talons of the Osprey.
Being caught by the Osprey and then dropped about 100 feet onto the sand
seemed to have killed it.

I bet if we had not been there, the Eagle would have flown down to eat
the fish. I would guess that an Osprey would be unable to pick up the
fish from the beach, even if the Eagle left (my guess is that the talons
of an Osprey aren't designed to work that way).



== Michael Hobbs
== Redmond WA
== mikeho at microsoft.com