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It Didn't Get Away!
Ossie's Oregon Fish Story
[as related to Les Furnanz]
HighOnAdventure.com   December 1, 2012

 
 
Osprey with salmon
 
 
Trying to get a grip!
 

Like most of my fellow ospreys on Oregon's Tualatin River, I find the canoe and kayak paddlers to be a real pain in the tail feathers. Know what I mean? They get in the way of our fishing. Cheep, Cheep! It's s our livelihood & don't forget that we're also called fish eagles. These paddlers even bother our great neighbors, the blue herons. Let me tell you my latest experience; it makes me want to honk like a Canadian goose.

 

I was making a late afternoon soar of my section of the river when I spotted a large squawfish. I asked myself if I could handle it. Heck! I weigh only about four pounds, and this fish was more than two! I'd d never had one this size before, and I'd d have to carry it sixty feet up to my nest. Well, I decided to give it a try. My kids were hungry!

 

I knew that it would surface again soon, so I circled patiently. When I spotted those dorsal fins again I dived like there was no tomorrow. At just the right moment I plunged my talons down and gripped hard. This fish was heavy! As I started my ascent it wriggled a bit and tried to pull me back. It didn't get away with that, but I had to settle on a branch for a minute so it would lose some of its energy before I started up again.

 

That' s when it happened. This kayaker came along and decided that he needed to get a few photos. I know I' m an impressive creature, but these kayakers need to learn when its time to let nature take its course without butting in their ugly noses. How could I focus on my task with this stupid photog clicking away? Could I trust him to leave me alone? Now I was the one who felt like a fish out of water.

 

 
Osprey with salmon
 
 
I've got a grip!
 

Well, I gave a couple of scolding "cheep"s to hold this fella off. I figured I better not get too excited. I needed to concentrate. " Snap, snap," went that camera, but I kept my cool. Then I mustered all my strength and got those wings beating good and strong, slowly rising, and mastered the challenge by taking a big arc, away from my nest before coming up to my young' uns from the other side of the river, out of sight of that kayaker.

 

Well, this one didn't t get away, and we all ate well that day. My tale is not just a fish story! But I'm m telling you, we ospreys need to get rid of these haughty paddlers on OUR rivers!!@@!!

 

Cheep, cheep!!

Ossie,

A not so rapturous Oregon raptor
 
 
 
 
 
balloon
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