Sky-pirates
The old adage that “A picture tells a thousand words” is certainly true in this shot from the archives and taken at Ft. Pickens, Florida back in April of 2021.
The story started with an osprey catching a needle fish in Pensacola Bay. In my mind while watching this happen, I wrongfully assumed that it had already exerted all the effort required for its reward, in this case, breakfast. Whitin seconds it became clear that catching the fish was the easy part. Keeping the sky-pirates at bay was another story.
As the osprey holding the fish approached the beaches of Ft. Pickens to perch and enjoy its catch, a second osprey launched from the trees in an attempt to steal the fish. For the next several minutes the two put on a show of true aerobatic excellence with many twists, turns and dives. In my mind, I thought the osprey caring cargo would eventually plumb tucker out (yes, I speak hillbilly) and lose. I captured many shots of the high-speed pursuit, thinking that the two ospreys fighting was my gift of the morning.
While trying desperately to maintain focus on the osprey, something caught my eye entering the frame from stage left. It was a juvenile male bald eagle who no doubt was watching it all unfold, just waiting for the two to exhaust themselves so he could sweep in for the steal.
This shot captures the moment that the greedy osprey excuses itself from the game as the much larger eagle closes on its target. The good news…the eagle lost too and the osprey finally made it back to shore for breakfast, 7-10 minutes late and panting.
Sky-pirates
The old adage that “A picture tells a thousand words” is certainly true in this shot from the archives and taken at Ft. Pickens, Florida back in April of 2021.
The story started with an osprey catching a needle fish in Pensacola Bay. In my mind while watching this happen, I wrongfully assumed that it had already exerted all the effort required for its reward, in this case, breakfast. Whitin seconds it became clear that catching the fish was the easy part. Keeping the sky-pirates at bay was another story.
As the osprey holding the fish approached the beaches of Ft. Pickens to perch and enjoy its catch, a second osprey launched from the trees in an attempt to steal the fish. For the next several minutes the two put on a show of true aerobatic excellence with many twists, turns and dives. In my mind, I thought the osprey caring cargo would eventually plumb tucker out (yes, I speak hillbilly) and lose. I captured many shots of the high-speed pursuit, thinking that the two ospreys fighting was my gift of the morning.
While trying desperately to maintain focus on the osprey, something caught my eye entering the frame from stage left. It was a juvenile male bald eagle who no doubt was watching it all unfold, just waiting for the two to exhaust themselves so he could sweep in for the steal.
This shot captures the moment that the greedy osprey excuses itself from the game as the much larger eagle closes on its target. The good news…the eagle lost too and the osprey finally made it back to shore for breakfast, 7-10 minutes late and panting.