Guess who's HERE!

[elleng]

SURPRISE osprey! Bunch of pics.



























grooming

[Bayard]

1. Is that a cooling move?

To hold his wings out like that?

[elleng]

2. I don't see such in this first bunch of 6, but may have gotten one a bit later,

surely grooming.

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Neat!!

[nocoincidences]

4. What a magnificent bird!

You are very lucky to be his/her neighbor and get such beautiful close-up pictures.

[elleng]

5. Yes I am, and happy to see him today;

thought he'd moved on south as hadn't seen for a couple days, and as I headed out, there he was!

[Rebl2]

6. How large

do they appear to be? They look the size of a buzzard.

[elleng]

7. Osprey have an average 59- to 70-inch wingspan and weigh 3-4 pounds.

They have long, narrow wings with a marked kink that makes them look like an M-shape from below. The bald eagle is one of the largest birds in North America, with an average 80-inch wingspan and weighing 6.5 to almost 14 pounds.

The total length of the upland buzzard is 57 to 72 cm (22 to 28 in) and wingspan is 143 to 161 cm (4 ft 8 in to 5 ft 3 in).