Osprey numbers soaring along the Panhandle coast

[Donna]

http://www.pnj.com/article/20110921/NEWS01/109210322/Osprey-numbers-soaring-along-Panhandle-coast Story cont...

Seagulls once dominated the light posts along the Pensacola Bay bridge.
They'd jostle each other for the perch like kids playing musical chairs. The biggest, most aggressive ones would reign supreme for the prime fish-viewing spot of Pensacola Bay to the west and Escambia Bay to the east.
By the end of this summer, though, a bigger sea bird predator has become lord of the bridge.
Most mornings, several eagle-like ospreys crouch on several poles, scanning the bays for the silver flicks of schools of mullet shooting through the water below.

[MAK]

 

[valhalla]

 

Interesting that the Panhandle Osprey are slightly in front of the MD Osprey (very slightly time-wise).  Would love to know if any transient Osprey winter in the Panhandle.