Wildlife Spotlight: The Ospreys of HWY 44
If you have driven down 44 recently, you probably caught a glimpse of three beautiful young osprey fledglings peeking out from their large nest atop the Anchor's Marina billboard. This month, we are spotlighting a fantastic snapshot of these young birds captured by Andrea Wouri on her iPhone.
For those who live in Georgia's Lake Country, Osprey are not an uncommon sight, but it is rare we get a front row seat to watching these fledglings mature into grown birds. Unique among North American raptors for their diet of live fish and their amazing ability to dive into water to catch them, Ospreys are often seen soaring over shorelines, patrolling waterways, and standing on their huge stick nests, white heads gleaming. Ospreys are some of the best anglers in the world, as on average they catch fish during 1 out of every 4 dives, with some boasting success rates as high as 70 percent (allaboutbirds.org). These three osprey will soon join the many others we can see patrolling Lake Oconee, and someday they will look to make nests of their own.
Do you have any pictures of wildlife here in Georgia's Lake Country that you would like to submit to Stroll Inside the Gates? We would love to see! Please feel free to email any submissions to josh.hudson@n2co.com
