Never seen a bird shake water off like a dog does, especially in mid-air. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of him when he’s got his eyes locked and his talons in the “load” position!
There are 3 sequences in this one youtube video:
1st sequence he catches half a dozen fish in one strike.
2nd sequence he plunges talons into deep water right to the bottom to grab his prey.
3rd sequence he captures a big fish that looks as if it weighs more than he does! And rides it in the air like a skateboard at the end.
This is incredible to watch (best viewed in full screen mode)…enjoy!
Amazing animal for sure. He is for sure an expert flounder gigger! I think he could have used another foot of wingspan on that 3rd strike. The vertical climb looked tough.
The most amazing thing I witnessed around here was a few porpoises corralled some fish and run them up on a sand bank on the folly river. I saw these V shaped wakes in formation heading for the bank. Then all hell broke loose.
That’s pretty cool. Looks like a good sized salmon at the end.
A few years back when I lived in MA still we were out tuna fishing. Came upto a pod of atleast 200 dolphin and whale eating bait all over the place. This was @ 50 miles offshore. Pretty awesome sight to see.
Earlier this spring we saw an osprey standing in 5-6 inches of water on top of a submerged sandbar. We motored closer and were suprised that the osprey did not fly off. When we got close the osprey took off with a 20" redfish in its claws. I had to tip my hat to a superior angler…
matt, those dolphins were “strand feeding”- a culturally-transmitted behavior occurring only in isolated parts of the bottlenose’s worldwide range (SC/GA and one part of Australia, last i heard). they corral fish together (typically in winter, and usually male dolphins) and make the push when the lead dolphin calls the others to do so. next time you see them, you’ll notice they all lay on their right sides when out of the water. physiologically, the blowhole is a nostril, which means one of their nares had to migrate to the top of their head. once it did, the esophagus had to occupy the other side of the “throat”… all this meaning that they can’t swallow “up”, and so they have to lay on their right sides to swallow fish when out of water (see pic in link below)!
mikey, a few years back when we got that good dump of snow in feb, the morning after it we saw a half-frozen osprey take a trout in shallow. it was not a nice morning for a swim. about 6 years ago, i saw a bald eagle lock up with a duck in north inlet- bird on bird was too much to fly away with, so he had to use it as a pontoon and “ski” it to the bank.
I remember once I saw a hawk grab a woodpecker off a tree in my friends backyard. Raptors seem to me to be the most skilled hunters in the world, even more than wolves and big cats. The only ones that I think can rival them would be dolphins, tuna, and billfish.
I was about 30 ft in the air going up a ski lift in Alaska and saw some sort of Hawk hit a Ptarmigan below me. All I saw was a blur, as the Hawk went past on the way down and then an explosion of feathers. I never even saw the Ptarmigan, as it was all white and sitting in the snow. That Hawk, had really good eyesight!
Back before the overpass at 52 and 78 I was sitting in traffic and an osprey dropped a nice size mullet on the car next to me which put a huge dent in the car and kept circling trying to get it has it lay flopping around at that four way stop. I will never forget the look on that ladies face. Lol