On an Audubon walk one morning around Snake Lake (Plumas Co., CA), we
observed an Osprey repeatedly landing in the water. The bird would
fly up, circle around a few times, then dive to the water as if to
catch a fish. But then it just sat in the water. It would start
flapping its wings vigorously as if to take off, and sometimes it
would take off, sometimes it wouldn't. Eventually it would fly back
up, circle around a few times, and dive in the same spot. It never
did any of the swimming that others have described. We observed this
behavior for about 20 minutes, and it was still at it when we left
the lake.

In retrospect, I wonder if it had mistaken a branch (still attached
to a large log, there were many snags in the lake) for a fish and
was just trying to make off with the whole log.
jw
Jane Westervelt
Steve Kalloger
Moscow, ID