Why not suspect a great horned owl? Ed Sones Cedar Park, TX ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Heath To: texbirds Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2013 4:30 PM Subject: [texbirds] Ospreys on UTC All, Yesterday (6/28/13), my grad student and I observed an Osprey sitting on one of the poles on the south side of North Deer Island in West Galveston Bay. We have, on a number of occasions over the past few months, seen an Osprey sitting on a reef between the I-45 bridge and Texas City in Galveston Bay eating a prey item. I confess I haven't paid much attention to these birds. I have been wondering whether an Osprey would take a young bird as a prey item though. I have only ever seen them with fish but I received a report from a fisherman that he found the carcass of one of our banded oystercatcher chicks on the railroad tracks that run across Jones Bay. This was clearly the result of an avian predator sitting on the elevated tracks to eat as they oystercatcher chick would not have been in that location. I have wracked my brain to figure out what sort of avian predator could take a fledged oystercatcher chick (nearly as large as an adult) and fly away with it to the railroad tracks in the summer. In winter, I'd say Peregrine Falcon but in the summer, I just don't know. Thoughts? Sue Susan A. Heath, Ph.D. Avian Conservation Biologist Gulf Coast Bird Observatory 103 W. Hwy 332 Lake Jackson, TX 77566 979-480-0999 Join us in our quest to study and conserve birds and their habitat around the Gulf of Mexico. www.gcbo.org Sign-Up for our monthly E-News Letter http://www.gcbo.org/default.aspx/MenuItemID/205/MenuGroup/Home.htm Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3345 / Virus Database: 3204/6449 - Release Date: 06/29/13 Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner