Osprey's on the Chew

[DockRat]

Been seeing alot of Osprey Eagles in Long Beach ecpecially out at Pier J past the Queen Mary. There is 2 that hang out on the top of the tall lights and sit for hours mid mourning till about noon. Saw one near the Gerald Desmond Bridge and also seen them on Terminal Island sitting on lights along Navy Way. One was trying to make a nest on top of a light at Pier G near the bow of the Queen Mary but on the other side of the 710.

Saw another one dive straight down from a high up light pole and grab a perch, another time one was eating a pigeon.

Had at least 100 sightings in the last year and sometimes on a daily basis.


Keep yor eyes peeled and look up at the port light poles they look like a Owl from a distance and have a slower wing stroke than gulls or other birds.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/Commanderqt03/osprey.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff138/cameranut64/Ospreywithfish04.jpg

Where do the live ? I'm thinking up the LA River.

For the C&R only crowd do you feel these Eagles are a threat and depeating local fish stock ? :ROFL:

Guys from San Pedro call them Fish Hawks :ROFL:


DR

[DockRat]

Osprey: The only raptor that hovers overs water and plunges feet first for fish. Blackish above and white below, Ospreys have a white head with a broad black mask over their eyes.

Osprey: The only raptor that hovers overs water and plunges feet first for fish. Blackish above and white below, Ospreys have a white head with a broad black mask over their eyes.

There is only one Osprey: they are the sole member of the family Pandionidae. Sometimes called Sea Eagles or Fish Eagles, Ospreys feed exclusively on fish. They are fairly common in coastal areas, but can also be found near any lake or river large enough to support a healthy fish population.

A short tail and long, narrow wings with long, finger-like feathers help identify an Osprey in flight.

Ospreys often build nests on man-made structures such as telephone poles or on nesting platforms built specifically for Osprey. Ospreys had almost disappeared by the early 1970s due to pesticides (like DDT) that caused severe eggshell thinning The ban on DDT and providing nesting platforms combined to restore the Osprey population fairly quickly. (For impressive pictures of an Osprey carrying a fish to it's nest and actually feeding it's young.


The Osprey's mask is often the only way to distinguish it from another black and white raptor: the American Eagle.

http://natureofframingham.blogspot.com/2009/07/osprey-eagle-of-sea.html

Since these great birds are fishing daily in Long Beach and everybody I show them to seems to be amazed by there presence.
Is thos board for human only fishing or do Eagles count ?

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/mollysgranny46/osprey.jpg DR

[murrieta angler]

Now i'm all confused...:Confused:

When I go Oceanside to fish off the pier sometimes, I see a hawk, which I thought was a sea hawk. But looking at the colors of the sea hawk (osprey) in your pictures, the bird i've seen has no way near the coloring of the osprey.
Now I need to take a picture and find out what type of bird it is..

Cool Post

[Bradakas]

photographers at el dorado practically worship those things....tripping all over themselves to get a good shot :ROFL: