The behavior of wild animals can be fascinating. Especially so when you come to expect certain things, and then something else happens. Such is the case of the indecisive osprey. I was spending some time on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge when I found a little bird watching spot where the Wind River flows into the Columbia. There is an old bridge anchorage there, but the bridge is long since gone. A pair of osprey decided it would be a fine place to build their nest.

As you can see, by the time I visited, the pair had already been successful in hatching two chicks. This kept papa osprey busy fetching fish, and mama osprey busy tearing them into small pieces to feed to the chicks. They also had to keep watch for the many bald eagles in the area who would try to steal the fish before they could get it back to the nest. The eagles would perch in the trees surrounding the nest and wait for papa osprey to return from fishing. Then, they would dive out of the tree in an ambush and try to get him to drop the fish.

One particular morning, I had gone to this spot to watch the action. When I arrived, I noticed only one adult in the nest, so I knew papa osprey was probably out fishing. I made a scan of the surrounding trees to check for too-lazy-to-do-their-own-fishing eagles. Instead, I discovered papa osprey sitting on a branch staring intently at the water below. Then I noticed him bobbing his head. This is behavior I have come to expect in these birds. From what I understand, it helps their depth perception, which aids in zeroing in on exactly where the fish is located under the water. When I see this behavior, I know it’s time to prepare for action shots as a dive should be eminent.

Sure enough, he dove. But what happened next was the unexpected part. He seemed to change his mind in mid-dive, hanging on to the branch rather than letting go and hitting the water. I had panned my camera to the water hoping to catch the splash, but there was none. Looking back up at the branch, there he was, still hanging on!

He dangled there for a few seconds as if he was maybe trying to right himself. Then he let go, flew out over the water, and circled back around to perch in the same spot.

Eventually, he did make a successful dive, coming up with a catfish and bringing it back to the hungry chicks waiting in the nest.

I had never before seen an osprey change its mind in the middle of a dive, and I haven’t seen it since. When it happened, I was a bit worried that maybe something else was going on, such as a piece of fishing line tangled in the tree that ensnared the bird. I was relieved when he let go of the branch a flew back around. It was then I realized I had just seen a bird of prey change its mind!

EDIT: After posting this story, I have been informed that sometimes the talons “lock up.” Which would have caused this to happen. But whether he changed his mind, or his talons weren’t cooperating, it was an unusual and interesting thing to see.