Help on Bird ID

[FL SNIPER]

Last night a friend and I were fishing on a lake in north Washington county and we had a pretty cool experience. What we first though was an eagle above us came crashing down into the water right in front of our boat and pulled out a nice crappie. BUT it wasn't an eagle nor an immature eagle...we've seen plenty of those in the past. It was a different type of bird...big, black, and white. Could it be an Osprey? I looked up pictures on the Inet of Osprey...and although it was very similar it did not match perfectly. Does anyone have any ideas or perhaps pictures to post to help me ID the bird? Thank you very much!

[Steve Foss]

Plumage varies somewhat in individual birds, and what you saw may not match exactly what the guides or online resources show. Also, it's possible your memory fooled you a bit. Given the behavior and description you provided, an osprey is by far the most likely bird.

[FL SNIPER]

Ya...I'm thinking it was an Osprey...but I just wanted a little reassurance from you guys...and to make sure I wasn't over looking some other possibility.

Plummage on the bird we saw was very close to the osprey pics on the Inet. What a cool bird! And what a fisherman! The bird was coming in low on us and I was about to hit the deck of the boat when he/she crashed into the water just 20 yards in front of our boat and got a fish. Like I said we see a lot of eagles around...but I have not seen many birds like this osprey. We will definitely be keeping a look out for these neat birds. Thanks.

[Finns]

After catching the fish and taking off did the bird give its body a shake as in shaking of water like a dog might? Ospreys will do that.

Finns.

[dogs]

I would guess that it was an Osprey. There is a group that has established quite a few nesting poles around the area.

[pathogen]

Another dead giveaway would be how the bird held the fish as he flew away. An Osprey will virtually always hold the fish so the head is facing forward---lessening wind resistance as the bird flies. I'm not aware of other fish hawks or eagles that do this.

[FL SNIPER]

Thanks you guys. Next time I go to that lake I will bring my camera and maybe get lucky to snap his/her picture to confirm it's an osprey.

If I remember correctly the fish did seem to be facing forward as the bird flew away.

FL