Subject: The Osprey, the fish, & the peregrine
Date: Aug 15 07:19:24 2000
From: Martin J. Muller - MartinMuller at email.msn.com


Greetings tweeters,

A bit late since the following happened at about 4 PM on Sunday at Green
Lake (Seattle, WA).

Went to check a Pied-billed Grebe nest to find that the last of the five
eggs had also hatched. Suddenly the female (with all five young tucked
beneath her wings) twisted her head to look up. I always check out such
clues, and was again rewarded for my trust of the bird's uncanny ability to
spot "trouble" from above.

This time it was an immature Peregrine Falcon. It was slowly soaring in big
circles, not too high, directly overhead. I managed to get my scope on it
long enough to determine that it was a double-banded bird. This means most
likely a bird banded by Falcon Research Group members. A US Fish & Wildlife
band (silver) on the right leg. A black VID (visual ID) band on the left
leg. Alas I could not read the large letter/number combination on this
moving target (the band is designed to make individual ID possible in a
cooperative bird).

As I watched the bird gained altitude and then started a long, increasingly
steep, stoop. The target turned out not to be a small songbird but an
immature Osprey carrying a good size (estimated 6") fish. A nice dogfight
ensued with the peregrine repeatedly (at least 4 times) grabbing hold of the
fish with its talons and both birds spiraling through the air. The Osprey
held on though and eventually the peregrine gave up and returned to the
lake. There it proceeded to harass two other immature Osprey but was chased
off by an adult Osprey (the adult flew at the peregrine and twisted in
mid-air threatening with outstretched talons).

What appears to be a family (2 adults and up to 4 young) frequent the lake.
Every (early morning and late afternoon) visit I make these days, I see at
least 2 and sometimes all 6 birds. It looks like the young occasionally make
their own catch, but they spend a lot of time "shadowing" the adults.
Circling up high above a hunting adult the young utter their high-pitched
food-begging whistle.

Food transfers between the adults and young alone make spending some time on
the lake shore a worthwhile pastime. Adults either circle up and wait for
youngsters to catch up, then drop the fish for the youngsters to catch in
mid-air (or retrieve from the lake). Or the transfer is talon-to-talon.

Not only young (over ambitious) peregrines try to steal fish from the young
Osprey, I also watched a prolonged dogfight between an adult Glaucous-winged
Gull and an immature Osprey. The gull used its bill to try and pull the fish
from the Osprey's talons. Occasionally it resorted to pulling the Osprey's
tail. Again the Osprey held on and flew off with its catch.

Early in the morning the Osprey family is joined by Caspian Tern families.
Adults trying to hunt with screaming youngsters hot on their heels. Watched
one adult catch a fish. Young landed on the water and the adult barely
landed next to it and stuffed the fish in the youngster's bill. The
youngster flew with it, a Glaucous-winged Gull immediately on its tail. The
youngster dropped the fish and the gull tried to make off with it. However
an adult tern (the same that had caught the fish) gave chase and convinced
the gull to drop the fish. This time the tern landed on the water next to
the youngster and both remained on the water until the youngster had
swallowed the fish.

As always a visit to the lake is highly recommended. Very entertaining.

Cheers,
Martin Muller, Seattle