Watched an aerial dogfight between an eagle and an osprey while chironomid fishing this afternoon. Probably missed a few taps with the indicator while eyes were glued to the sky, but it looked like the Red Baron (the eagle) going against Snoopy (the osprey). The osprey was the better flyer and the eagle eventually gave up! So fishing is more than just trying to catch fish, think holistic!
I have observed this many times. The osprey catches a fish and then flies to it’s nest. A bald eagle comes in and harasses the osprey until it drops the fish. The eagle snatches the fish in mid air and voila! Free meal. I don’t know if the ospreys and eagles are still nesting at Baptiste Lake but that’s where I saw this on a regular basis, years ago.
I filmed this once at Taylor Lake in BNP. There were 2 eagles perched and they were hunting the shallow outfall of the lake during the spawn. It was teaming with cutthroat. The osprey flew in low coming from the outfall creek directly under the eagles. One eagle took flight and went after the osprey and more or less just preoccupied it. Flying with it and keeping the osprey focused on him. The other eagle took flight and climbed high above the other 2 never seeming to acknowledge the osprey. It climbed several hundred feet above the other 2 and then tucked into a dive and dove so fast. It took the osprey out of flight and they whirled together down to the lake surface while the eagle held it its talons. The osprey did not survive. It was very cool to see.
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Eagle vs Osprey
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