Marine Park Osprey

I’m not sure what sort of fish the Osprey is eating. It looks like it might be a Menhaden.

Menhaden, also known as mossbunker and bunker and “the most important fish in the sea”, are forage fish of the genera Brevoortia and Ethmidium, two genera of marine fish in the family Clupeidae. Menhaden is a blend of poghaden (pogy for short) and an Algonquian word akin to Narragansett munnawhatteaûg, derived from munnohquohteau (“he fertilizes”), referring to their use of the fish as fertilizer. It is thought that Pilgrims were advised by Tisquantum (also known as Squanto) to plant menhaden with their crops. (Menhaden – Wikipedia)

The Osprey was busy eating and chasing off rivals. I’m guessing that the one sitting on the nest is the female.

Shared with bird of the week at https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2023/04/04/intermediate-egret-bird-of-the-week/

Marine Park Mix

I photographed these by the Salt Marsh Nature Center in Marine Park, Brooklyn.

Marine Park

Marine Park in Brooklyn was the third place we stopped at during the LSNY field trip. We found our target bird, a Red-headed Woodpecker. The Hooded Mergansers were at the Salt Marsh nature Center at Marine Park.