12:05pm: I just saw my First-Of-Year Osprey flying slowly north past my house while it stared down at the Flood Control Channel, clearly ready to take a meal while traveling, whether the trip was local or long-distance.
This is not the first 2021 record for the Basin, just my personal thrill. But I’d like to take the occasion to explain some stuff. I also see Bald Eagles regularly, and I know their immatures can have some confusing plumages. I could tell this was an Osprey by plumage because it had a clean white underside of the body (Bald Eagles with white bellies generally also have murky gray markings below, especially on the breast). This bird had a dark brown mask which was well-defined & distinct from the clean white lower part of the head (Bald Eagles with a dark mask have murky edges to the mask, with the mask not as pure dark brown and the rest of the head not as pure white, something which may not be easy to tell at a glance or at a great distance). I could also distinguish this Osprey by shape: This bird had longer narrower wings than a Bald Eagle, which also made the few “fingers” of the outer primaries more prominent. This bird when seen from behind showed the distinct angled wing shape of the wrists being the high points of a long shallow M. Other distinguishing features of Osprey v immature Bald Eagle which I did not observe today would include: the evenly barred tail of the Osprey; the large-scale checkerboard pattern of lighter and darker areas below each of the Osprey’s wings with dark secondaries, wrists, and wingtips contrasting with pale base of primaries and white inner wing linings (Bald Eagle immatures tend to have most white throughout the wing linings and more scattered on the flight feathers); the M shape of the wings seen from below with the wrists held forward; a very slim shape when perched (Bald Eagles are hulks); and a very small hooked bill (Bald Eagles have a huge bill). Bald Eagles in winter regularly get mistaken for Ospreys, so when I asked for distinguishing features for out-of-season or early reports, the above field marks would be examples. They are not hard to see or describe, but they do require a bit of knowledge and discipline in observation and communication. I think it’s okay to point to a picture in a field guide if you can point to the particular features in the picture which you noticed. Like any rare bird report, a description of the observed features of the bird which support the ID should be included. I think that knowing what you have seen does a much better job of letting other people know what you have seen if you can say what it is that you saw that enabled you to know what it was. By the same token, a description (even a partial description) or a photo (even an unappealing photo) can help ID a bird whether or not the photographer knew the ID. So I encourage everyone to savor views of birds, and take in details of plumage, shape, and behavior. For me, this helps every observation to enrich my knowledge of each species as well as helping with IDs. Thanks for bearing with me. Happy Spring! Another Osprey is back! - - Dave Nutter -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
