Osprey KL9, DAY 14

The ringed Osprey KL9 was at the Dos Pinos reservoir this morning, where I watched it fishing. The bird dived towards prey on three occasions, with complete immersion the second two attempts. The last of the three attempts brought success in the form of a sizeable catch, the whole process having taken just over two minutes. Thus, a 1-out-of-3 success rate after a couple of minutes of strenuous activity...not bad for an inexperienced, first-time migrant!

So, contrary to my earlier comments (see previous posts), to the effect that the reservoir basically functions as a safe refuge for birds, it is now clear that the site is also providing the juvenile Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) with an abundant, easy-to-catch food supply. 

The following action photos are all heavily cropped, but are certainly an improvement on my previous ones. 

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) landing with catch

The fish themselves (Tilapia sp.) got there as a result of an unsuccessful fish-farming project. It is not clear whether they were deliberately introduced into this particular reservoir, or were accidentally transferred from other ponds involved in the aquacultural experiment.