Osprey?

[dkbe...@gmail.com]

I was watching an adult bald eagle and a slightly smaller bird soaring this afternoon about 12:30 near the lower Mystic Lake. The smaller bird had, from below, dark flight feathers but light colored wings themselves and, above, was brown with reddish V-shaped pattern showing with its wings spread. It seemed wrong for a juvenile eagle, but maybe an osprey? Would the eagle and osprey soar peacefully very near each other?

David Bean

[phaw...@comcast.net]

Responding to David Bean's post, I was on the lakes most of the morning and early afternoon. To my knowledge no one saw an Osprey, and it would still be very early for an Osprey (Possible, especially with ice out, but still very early). However, there were both juvenile and immature Bald Eagles in the area. Young Bald Eagles often have an Osprey-like eye stripe (usually very thick in juveniles and decidedly thinner and more Osprey-like in one- and two-year-old birds). Birds of that age also tend to have largely white wing linings, which seem brighter and whiter with snow on the ground on a bright sunny day, and highly variable mottling on the flight feathers. Two of the young birds appear to be juvenile males, notably smaller than the females. My guess is you saw a juvenile male Bald Eagle with an adult female (or maybe just a large adult male).  

     Ospreys and Bald Eagles can soar together, but not  very "comfortably." Bald Eagles tail chase any Osprey with a fish, justifying the term klepto-parasite. Eagles nesting near Osprey nests regularly pirate adult Ospreys returning to the nest with fish, leading to great frustration and often nest failure for the Ospreys, who cannot feed their young. Along the Maine coast, the expanding Bald Eagle population regularly steals fish from Ospreys returning to their nest with food for their young, and then harvests the young Ospreys just before they fledge, leading to significant failures of nesting Ospreys. When Bald Eagles move into an Osprey's neighborhood, the Ospreys are likely to have nest failure for a year or two, forcing the Osprey pair to break up or move somewhere without eagles. Both fish-loving species have made a significant comeback from near extirpation, but it is not without conflict. Despite increasing Osprey-eagle conflict, it appears that both species are continuing to grow in number.  

Best,

Paul 

Paul M. Roberts
Medford, MA 
phaw...@comcast.net

On 03/02/2022 2:04 PM dkbe...@gmail.com <dkbe...@gmail.com> wrote:

I was watching an adult bald eagle and a slightly smaller bird soaring this afternoon about 12:30 near the lower Mystic Lake. The smaller bird had, from below, dark flight feathers but light colored wings themselves and, above, was brown with reddish V-shaped pattern showing with its wings spread. It seemed wrong for a juvenile eagle, but maybe an osprey? Would the eagle and osprey soar peacefully very near each other?

David Bean

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