Osprey on the patch!

Well, Russ patch really.

This afternoon I was meeting Russ to go to do a dusk survey so thought I'd have a quick look off Thorganby viewing platform, which is more of his local patch than mine to be honest. I gave it a good scan for a few minutes and soon picked up on a huge bird heading low my way - OSPREY! I took great joy in notifying Russ that I'd just found an Osprey on his patch (once I'd definitely ruled out Great Black-backed Gull). Luckily he got down in time to see it as it gained height rapidly before vanishing in front of our eyes.

I managed a couple of typical-quality phone-scoped pictures of it in flight (below).  This is my second local Osprey this spring which is great. Nice to find one too, and have someone else see it! Unfortunately some of the local year-listers  missed it, but hopefully for them there'll be another one...

Osprey - honest (phone-scoped) 

Osprey - honest (phone-scoped) 

Survey was generally quiet, although this Short-eared Owl perked us up a bit. Can't believe how cold it is for mid-May. Not fun at all!

Short-eared Owl (phone-scoped)