Osprey

During his time out on Topsail Island, The Fuzz got a chance to see types of birds that we don't have here in the Carolina Piedmont.  One of such was the Osprey.

Now "Ospreys" were mentioned in a previous post.

But this was a whole different thing.

One afternoon The Fuzz was out and about with a bike and a book.  To be truthful, as nice as Topsail Beach is, there are not really a lot of places to hang out in the off season.

This day Our Fuzz had rode over to one of the public access sites on the sound.  As he was reading he became aware of a fairly large bird that wasn't a gull landing on a nearby piling.  Alas, uncharacteristically, he had no camera with him.  But he did have his binoculars!

And he spent a good while watching this obvious raptor finishing off it's dinner.

Back at the hotel, he looked it up in the "Bird Book" and found that it was the namesake of that unique aircraft.

But then sometime later he had returned to this same bench - this time with a camera.

And although he certainly didn't expect it...

Look who was back!

At first he had not noticed it.

But as he watched the activity there in the bird world, he saw what had their attention.

It seems that everyone wanted a piece of the action.

But they weren't gonna get it.

Some of the disappointed ones were these Fish Crows.

The Fuzz had seen these guys around but didn't know exactly what there were.  They reminded him so much of "normal" crows, but they were just too small and sounded just a little different.

But in the "Bird Book" he saw why.

They were crows... sorta.

But this post is about Ospreys!

None of these moochers seemed to bother our raptor.

He just went about his business of dinner.

And then took off!

Of course he took the rest of his dinner with him.

Looks like his neighbors will have to live with disappointment this time.

And The Fuzz watched as he crossed over...

...And went back to his home in the marsh.

That kinda made the day for The Fuzz.

And this time he got the pix too!

 

And The Fuzz thinks you might like to see these "Fun Facts" below.

 

 

Some "Cool Facts" from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology  

 

Cool Facts (Ospreys)...

  "Ospreys are unusual among hawks in possessing a reversible outer toe that allows them to grasp with two toes in front and two behind. Barbed pads on the soles of the birds' feet help them grip slippery fish. When flying with prey, an Osprey lines up its catch head first for less wind resistance."

"Ospreys are excellent anglers. Over several studies, Ospreys caught fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates sometimes as high as 70 percent. The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you throw your line in the water."

 

Cool Facts (Fish Crows)...

"Fish Crows are inveterate nest-robbers, raiding the nests of many kinds of waterbirds and songbirds, as well as finding and digging up the eggs of turtles. They also harass and steal food from crows, gulls, ibis, and Ospreys."

A Trend ?

While here on the island, The Fuzz and His Sweetie had made a deal on bicycle rentals for their stay.

And as The Fuzz was feelin' a bit restless, and the day was so pretty, he decided to ride up toward the end of the island.

Actually, not quite the end- but the end of the road in this case.

There's a little beach there on the sound side for folks to enjoy.

While he was sitting on the bench watching some fisherpersons...

He saw these guys over across the water.

He figured they were doing a bit of fishing.

Then his attention was drawn away to other things.

It's no surprise to both regular followers of Kinda Fuzzy that The Fuzz has a thing for attempting to photograph birdies.

And here were a few.

But he wasn't quite sure what they were.

So he tried to zoom in just a bit more.

It wasn't until he booted up the computer that he could finally make them out.

Meanwhile on the other side...

The "fishermen" had landed.

And then he noticed the tripod.

Looks like the "Fishermen" were not fishing-

Or men!

Apparently, The Fuzz was not the only one loose with a camera this morning. 

Could this be a trend?

 

Port City-Big City

The Fuzz and His Sweetie had decided to have a bit of Big City time, just for fun.

Wilmington, N.C. is not far from Topsail Island, and in comparison to Topsail Beach, certainly qualifies as a Big City.

But it is a bit of a "you can't get there from here" situation.

The Fuzz does realize that this simply means that one must first get someplace else from here, and from thence, to there.

Topsail Beach is of course located on Topsail Island.

And Topsail Island is of course, an island!

Whereas the "Port City" is in fact, not.

So  this will require either a ferry, or a bridge.

The closest actual bridge is located up the island at Surf City.

And so we have this situation.

First a drive up to Surf City and across the drawbridge over the ICW.  Then out to the highway and south towards the Big City.

The first stop was the "Goodwill" store, and then, while The Fuzz still had a bit of his sanity left, downtown.

 

The traffic in Wilmington can get a little unpleasant at times.  But The Fuzz's Sweetie grew up in a Big City and handles it pretty well.

Finding a parking spot on Front St. can be a problem.  So they just decided to bite the bullet and pay for a spot on a parking deck...

With a view.

There are a lot of shops and all in this area.  In fact it's sort of the Tourist Destination while at the various beaches.

The Fuzz's plans called for a stop at

"Old Books on Front St."

The Fuzz highly recommends a stop here if one is inclined towards these things-

But be prepared to spend some time!

The Fuzz and His Sweetie were not particularly interested in the other shops, as they had been through here during summer beach trips before.

But a bit of lunch was called for.

So they walked up the street to the Front Street Brewery, and had some lunch and a pint.

It was very good.

Besides the beer, they seem to have quite a bar going on.

The Fuzz was tempted to use this for a Mystery Pix, but managed to get over it.

After taking care of the hungries, it was time to go down to the Riverwalk for some fun.

Whilst His Sweetie amused herself with her sketching, The Fuzz got out his camera and took a walk.

Here's a look at a bit of the waterfront.

And since this is the "Port City"...

Here's a look down river toward the "port."

Wilmington is also home to the Battleship North Carolina -

Which is right across the river.

The Fuzz could have stopped here...

But didn't!

If the reader is inclined so...

They may continue for a bit below

☟

A Long Shot

The other day, The Fuzz and His Sweetie took a drive up to the other end of the Island*.

Whilst she did a bit of sketching near area "A", The Fuzz ("B") had a walk a bit farther out along the inlet and around the end.

The tide was pretty low already, and still running out through the New River Inlet.

With his binoculars The Fuzz could see across over toward Sneads Ferry pretty well.  And he saw this cool boat.  It just looked like a nice little picture.

So he figured he'd give it a shot and maxed out the lens...

And ended up with this.

Still a bit hard to make it out.

But The Fuzz is not one to give up once he is obsessed with something.

Now it was time for some applied Photoshop.

Now we have this.

And while he was playing around...

Let's go for Artsy !

Just a bit of fun here.

*Satellite view via Google

Another Early Beachwalk

It's no secret to readers of this blog, that Our Fuzz enjoys his Morning Beachwalks.
So here we go again.

The wind was unusually calm on this morning, and the seabirds were out anticipating the morning light.

And so was The Fuzz.

Of course there was still a bit of a wait.

So The Fuzz had some time to just mess around a bit.

Wonder what this guy was up to?

But by now that old Sunball was making it's appearance.

And clear!

Morning had broken.

And of course The Fuzz has a few more here.

A Breezy Afternoon

After his Sunrise Morning Excursion, The Fuzz pretty much holed up back at the Hotel.

It was cold out there.

But by the evening he was ready to give it another go.  So he bundled up, and headed back to the beach.

With all the wind, the sea was kinda rough.

But that wasn't stopping the birdies.

The Fuzz has a thing for trying to catch those guys in flight.

And they were out there right in the surf.

While he was out, he decided to check out the other side of town.

For those who might be unfamiliar with Topsail Beach...

There's not really that much to it.

Of course, that is part of the attraction - at least for The Fuzz.

The "other side of town" is the "Sound" side of the island.

It's a whole different thing.

More birdies, but less flying.

But by now it was getting late and more rain was moving in.

So it was back to the Hotel for The Fuzz.