Osprey

Daily Note

Every day, a photograph, a poem. Just down the block from us along the Columbia River is a platform with an osprey’s nest where each year the pair return from South America to breed and feed from the fish in the mighty river.

Did you know they are their only species: Pandion and family, Pandionidae? And they have reversible toes to grasp the fish, almost their sole diet? And they live on every continent except Antarctica? And they can spot fish from 130 feet above, and when spotted, they hover and dive feet first, adjusting the angle to account for the water’s distortion? And their oily feathers keep the water away? And they mate for life?

Well, now you do. [Wikipedia]

Osprey

Fisher of the world
Is a species of its own
Soaring high with keen eyesight
Hovering with its mate for life
High diving feet first
Another catch grasped
With reversible toes—
Keeps fish firmly held for waiting chicks.

Sheri Edwards
061422 166.365.22
Poetry/Photography

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