Osprey, feathers soaked
Pandion haliaetus
Osprey · Prospect Park · 11 October 2025
An Osprey newly out of Prospect Park Lake in October and not yet dry, the feathers lying in wet spikes and the whole bird bulked up by how much water they are holding. Ospreys fish every coast and lake on earth outside Antarctica, and the ones over Brooklyn in October are on their way from the harbour nests to South America.
A vigorous shake, still to come, will throw off most of it. Ospreys are unique among raptors in going fully underwater after a fish, sometimes submerging completely - a wetting no eagle or hawk ever risks. Dense, oily plumage and nostrils that close on impact are what make the dive survivable.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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