Bird of the Day - Osprey

Today's Bird of the Day is the osprey.  I saw this pair of birds at a baseball field at Central Park in Roseville, Minnesota.  One light pole held the male, one held the female, and the next light supported their nest.  Ospreys and bald eagles have similar nests.

 The osprey is one of my favorite birds to watch while it is fishing.  When it spots a fish from the air, it will fold its' wings, and dive in the water from about ten feet.  A few moments later, it surfaces, shakes its' feathers, and takes off (hopefully with a fish).

The osprey is smaller than both the bald eagle and the turkey vulture, but all three birds love to soar.  Ospreys soar with down-turned wings, eagles soar with wings in a straight line, and turkey vultures have V-shaped wings when soaring.

Osprey Nest