Hi Tweeters,

A friend and I went fishing yesterday (4/24) on the Deschutes River, near
Maupin, OR, yesterday. Long story short, the fishing wasn't great...at
least, not for me.

The birds saved the day though. When we first got out of the car at the Oak
Springs Fish Hatchery, we got great looks at a pair of LEWIS' WOODPECKERs,
working on a hole in a nearby dead tree. Another lifer for me!

Later, as we were eating lunch, a large shadow passed over us. OSPREY at
about 30'! :) Boy did this bird give us a show! Apparently, one of the
hatchery pens, down at the end of the row, wasn't netted off, but had fish
in it. We watched for half an hour, as this bird tried to figure out just
the right approach to get to those fish. After ten minutes or so, it
figured out an ~circular flight path that would get it into position where
it could consistently dive on that raceway, from above. We watched it dive
six or eight times, and never come away with anything. It was flying so
close, that we could see it shaking the water off, in flight! Imagine a wet
golden retriever...with wings!

The last show of the day happened a few minutes later. We thought that the
OSPR had given up, as it flew off, upriver. Then, we saw another large
shadow pass by. Just as I looked up to see what was flying over, I saw the
OSPREY dive at a GOLDEN EAGLE! The eagle was flying through at ~50', and
had three AMERICAN CROWs harassing it, in addition to the OSPREY. When the
OSPREY dove on it, the eagle dropped the fish that it was carrying.

All in all, I'd say that it was a pretty good day, even if the fish didn't
cooperate.

Happy Birding,

Tim Haller
Vancouver, WA
tim at twonets dot net