Mantling~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS, Wild Life

The classic osprey glare.

This distant osprey has a fish clutched in his talons.

He lands with his prize,

and spots me.

He immediately mantles to cover his prey from the potential thief.

You can see the nictitating membrane, or third inner eyelid, starting to cover his eye for protection as he subdues the thrashing fish. (Click to enlarge).

Up on the safety of the high wires,

he can ignore me more comfortably.

Cheers to you from the well fed osprey~

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153 thoughts on “Mantling~”

  5. Unbelievable images, Cindy!
    I’ve never seen anything like these anywhere.
    I am not surprised my first experience of such photos would be yours.
    Cheers to you and yours, my friend.

    Reply

    1. Raptors do that. I love it. Sometimes they dive, and I duck, but it is more a show of force, than an actual intent to maim, unless you are really, what is that word? Funnily enough, this plastic surgeon I know, doesn’t seem to understand raptors. There was a nest on his property, and he walked under it and got strafed, serious laceration of his head. It made first place in the national news, when there was a much bigger story happening. He said, “I have to get rid of that nest, but they tell me it is illegal.”
      Since it got so much attention, he couldn’t be illegal.
      I asked him, “Why did you walk under the nest if you knew it was there?”
      He said, “It’s where I keep my trash cans.”
      He got strafed again the following year.
      Raptors don’t like people who don’t get the message.
      We are in horrible drought now in Cali. I put jet nozzles on an industrial hose, harnessing our agricultural strength irrigation pressure, pointed it to the sky, and watched the hawks cry and cry, as they fly back and forth under the mists.

      Reply

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