|
Spying on an Osprey down by the creek
Published October 11, 2009
I took advantage of Saturday morning’s cool temperatures to spend several hours birdwatching and photographing along San Felipe Creek.
According to www.wunderground.com, my second-favorite weather web site, it was 57 degrees Fahrenheit at Del Rio International when I left the offices of the News-Herald about 8 a.m. Saturday. I made my way to San Felipe Lions Memorial Park off Bridge Street, a place where I’ve been spending a lot of my free time lately.
I set up my tripod and camera near the picnic table that is my office away from the office and sat down to wait. I was hoping to get a better photo of one of the Green Kingfishers that calls this stretch of the creek its home.
While I was waiting, I encountered a small group of people walking upstream from Tardy Dam. I noticed that several of them were wearing binoculars and at least one of them had a camera. Fellow birdwatchers!
Edith Black, the mom of the group, stopped to chat for a few minutes, and introduced me to the rest of her crew: husband Jerry Back, and sons, Kent Black and daughter Kourtney Black of Lake Hills, Texas, and Jerry Black II of Wilsonville, Ore.
Edith told me that she’d seen an Osprey in this area of the creek a week ago, and I said I’d keep an eye out for it.
They moved on, and I continued my vigil. Martha and David Villa, who were walking their dog on the hike-and-bike trail stopped to chat about photography, and when I’d finished talking to them, the Blacks were on their way back.
Edith stopped by to tell me there was an Osprey perched in a sycamore across the creek from the Dr. Alfredo Gutierrez Jr. Amphitheater.
I decided to pack up my gear and head over there.
I found the Osprey without any problem.
It is a large, slender, dark brown and white raptor, slightly larger than a Swainson’s Hawk. Ospreys are fish-eaters, and I have most often seen them in this area on and around Lake Amistad.
Ospreys, which are often called “Fish Hawks,” eat fish almost exclusively, according to my “National Geographic Complete Birds of North America.”
The book notes that Ospreys have large hooked talons and rough skin on their toes, to better hold onto slippery fish, and that their wing area is large in relation to the size of their bodies, to allow greater lifting power once the fish is caught.
Ospreys were one of the species hit hardest by the widespread use of pesticides in the middle of the 20th century, with populations plummeting so dramatically that the bird was given protected status by the federal government.
But the banning of DDT allowed these magnificent raptors to make what the National Geographic calls “a spectacular comeback.”
It was a real treat to see one on the creek.
I worked my way close to the bird, but soon found it was very approachable and far more worried about the small cadre of Couch’s Kingbirds harassing it than it was about me.
This allowed me to get several good shots of it before it flew off. Even when it flew it didn’t go far, and I ended up following it back to the Tardy Dam area.
The Osprey perched on utility poles along the hike-and-bike trail, once letting me approach almost to the base of the pole.
Thanks again for the tip, Edith!
——
Karen Gleason is the Del Rio News-Herald’s senior staff writer, a longtime birdwatcher and fan of the outdoors. Contact her at karen.gleason(at)delrionewsherald.com.
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print
|
