A photographer on Monday captured video footage of an osprey lifting a fish nearly its size out of Florida’s Sebastian Inlet.
While Mark Smith‘s footage is spectacular, he informed For The Win Outdoors that he recently captured footage of an osprey flying off with three fish in its talons. (The clip is posted below.)
An ambitious endeavor, but the pinfish were slippery and one wriggled free and continued to wriggle as it plummeted toward earth.
Oh what’s that? There is a two fish limit? Well let me leave one right here for later. Loving the Sony a7slll. The evf makes using other cameras difficult! #osprey #birds #birbs #florida #birdwatching pic.twitter.com/8IV5uKnBsY
— Mark Smith Photography (@marktakesphoto) November 5, 2020
How did the osprey respond? The raptor simply transferred one of the other two fish to its free talon, and flew off with enough food to last an entire day.
Smith joked on Twitter: “Oh what’s that? There is a two fish limit? Well let me leave one right here for later.”
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Smith said ospreys have been on a feeding spree lately in and near the inlet, and that diving ospreys are a fairly common sight.
Ospreys, which prey almost exclusively on fish, can plunge talons-first more than three feet below the surface, and can catch fish weighing a pound or more.
They’ll often spend hours consuming their meals from high perches such as branches, cliff faces, and even the tops of power poles and light posts.
–Video courtesy of Mark Smith Photography (image is a screen shot)