My friends think that I'm mad, but I'm pretty sure I saw an Osprey the other day. Could anyone confirm that what I observed is an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) or, at least, Osprey-ish?
I saw the bird here -> Llandegla Forest, North Wales.
It was early evening and I was walking our dogs near Pendinas reservoir in north Wales, UK. I saw a couple of buzzards (common buzzards, Buteo buteo) hovering on the horizon above some trees. I was watching the buzzards when I noticed a third larger bird. Wing span easily half the width of the buzzards again, so roughly 1 1/2 times larger than the buzzards.
I observed all three birds for some time through binoculars. They were quite some distance away though, so I couldn't quite get a really clear view.
At first I thought it was simply another (larger) buzzard but its wings seemed different; rather then the splayed finger wing tips of the other two birds, its wings seemed much longer and distinctly more pointed and downwards pointing at the tips.
It roosted in a tree on the other side of the lake. It was very distinctively a Raptor (which ruled out my other thought of some kind of sea bird). Again, I viewed it through my binoculars. It appeared dark brown and had a distinctive white patch on its chest. Again, quite some distance so hard to get a really clear view.
I went home and checked my bird book. The only bird I could find that matched the description of the size and the distinctive wing pattern was an Osprey. There are half a dozen nesting pairs further up the coast from me but they are not common by any stretch.
Based on my description do you think I could I have confused this bird with another? Or does the Osprey seem the most likely?
