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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Birder: Osprey takes heron down

A fish in its talons, an osprey flies over Hauser Lake on Monday.
A fish in its talons, an osprey flies over Hauser Lake on Monday.

WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Somebody may have learned a lesson in this critter encounter described by Catherine Temple, an avid birder from Clarkston:

I watched an interesting interaction this morning between an osprey and great blue heron. The osprey was dive bombing and chasing the heron all over the sky until it finally knocked it down in deep water in a pond. I'm assuming the heron had taken or attempted to take a baby from the osprey nest or perhaps just got too close. I have seen heron take prairie dogs so a baby osprey would probably not be a problem except when the parents get mad. I don't think I'd want a ticked off osprey coming after me!



Rich Landers
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.

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