Billfish715
08-06-2019, 10:26 PM
Look carefully and you'll be able to see a fluke in the talons of this osprey. The picture is not National Geographic quality but I did get to see the action up close and personal. I'm happy to have been able to get a shot of the osprey swooping down in the surf and grabbing a fluke for dinner right in front of a surf fisherman who couldn't believe what had just happened.
The tide was out and it was just after sunup as an osprey soared over the surf line about a hundred feet up. As the runoff from a small wave was receding through the narrow trough and over the shallow sandbar, the osprey plummeted toward the water with its talons extended. It deftly pounced on an unsuspecting fluke that was on the sandbar in about a foot of water. At first I thought it had grabbed a bunker but upon examining the photo, I realized the fish was a fluke. .
Again, the picture is not professional quality but I'm not a professional photographer either. I'm just happy to have been there and be able to share the experience. I've seen videos of eagles grabbing fish, even flounder, but in most cases, those videos and photos are not just happenstance. This event, for me, was being in the right place at the right time.
It makes you wonder about how many fluke there are right along the beaches and why there isn't a more reasonable size limit for surf fishermen who target fluke. Why Island Beach and not every beach? I guess no one told the ospreys they were fishing illegally.
The tide was out and it was just after sunup as an osprey soared over the surf line about a hundred feet up. As the runoff from a small wave was receding through the narrow trough and over the shallow sandbar, the osprey plummeted toward the water with its talons extended. It deftly pounced on an unsuspecting fluke that was on the sandbar in about a foot of water. At first I thought it had grabbed a bunker but upon examining the photo, I realized the fish was a fluke. .
Again, the picture is not professional quality but I'm not a professional photographer either. I'm just happy to have been there and be able to share the experience. I've seen videos of eagles grabbing fish, even flounder, but in most cases, those videos and photos are not just happenstance. This event, for me, was being in the right place at the right time.
It makes you wonder about how many fluke there are right along the beaches and why there isn't a more reasonable size limit for surf fishermen who target fluke. Why Island Beach and not every beach? I guess no one told the ospreys they were fishing illegally.