This Osprey hangs out behind my building on a palm tree that has recently died. He/She sits there sometimes for hours just cleaning his feathers, or watching the waters for a fish to catch. I'm told that this one may not be a year-round resident here, and migrates for the winter. However, there are a few resident Ospreys that live here on the island full-time. The coloring is different for the resident race (P.h. ridgwayi) according to "Birds of the West Indies" by Herbert Raffaele, et al.
I have hundreds if not over a thousand photographs of this bird, but I have made myself promise only to use photos taken this year - that way I don't "cheat" myself out of a day trip around the island!
While driving around today near the UVI Wetlands, I saw two birds that looked like doves with a white stripe on their wings, but unfortunately I couldn't get a picture. If they were "White-winged doves" they are RARE here, so it would have made my day! BUT, most likely it was my eyes playing tricks on me as they tend to when I get excited about something :)
Maybe in the next week I can add a few more species to my STX list. For now, I will just be glad I've got Mr. or Mrs. Osprey to watch.
Fun Facts:
-Ospreys are found on every continent with the exception of Antartica, and are one of the largest birds of prey, and although often called a "sea-eagle" because it nests near water, it is not, but instead is a fish-eating raptor.
- Ospreys are known to mate for life and once a male and female have built their nest, they will return to the same nest year after year, continuously building upon it. I guess they are creatures of habit in this sense.
-When diving, Ospreys plunge completely into the water, submerging under to catch their prey, and can dive from as high as 200 feet to catch their fish!
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