Several of us have watched Ospreys at length in Everett, and the most common fish they bring to the nest is the Starry Flounder, Platicthys stellatus. They are indeed bottom fish, but I think they occur in very shallow water. They are very common in our waters.
Dennis Paulson
Seattle
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On Oct 15, 2022, at 12:05 AM, Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns at gmail.com> wrote:
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Dear Tom & Tweeters,
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Ospreys do a lot of fishing at Dumas Bay right around the corner from Dash Point State Park. Sometimes in late summer you can observe 4 or 5 at a time. Some of them are likely young of the year. I have hardly ever seen them catch anything other than flounders. Of course as one can tell at low tide, the water at Dumas Bay and at Dash Point SP is quite shallow. Then again it will depend on how far out they were fishing Tom. It does raise an interesting question as to how deep an Osprey will dive?
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Good birding!
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Hans
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On Fri, Oct 14, 2022 at 12:22 PM Tom Benedict <benedict.t at comcast.net <mailto:benedict.t at comcast.net>> wrote:
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A couple of Saturdays ago, while doing the PSSS at Dash Point State Park, we noticed a pair of Ospreys hunting over the shallows just offshore. We finished the survey, then decided to wait a bit in hopes that they might make a dive and catch something. We were paid off in less than 10 minutes as one of the raptors dove deep and pulled out a medium sized Flounder. It took awhile to gain altitude after surfacing.
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That its prey was a fish that normally stays on the bottom was surprising. I know that Osprey are the only raptors which completely submerge but this seemed a little extreme. I've researched this behavior a bit and find that it is documented, even underwater filmed, so it's not uncommon for them to catch bottom dwelling fish. It's possible that the water depth at Dash Point SP was just 2-3 feet I guess. I can't imagine that the bird could go much deeper than that. Anyhow, it was a spectacular display.
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Tom Benedict
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Seahurst, WA
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--
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Hans Feddern
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Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA
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thefedderns at gmail.com <mailto:thefedderns at gmail.com>
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