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Thursday, September 19, 2019

Flying fish?


Yesterday (18 September 2019) I snapped this photo of an Osprey carrying a fish.  Is this a Jacksmelt (Atherinopsis californiensis)?  If you can confirm or correct the identification, let me know!

4 comments:

Lotsoflux said...

Jackie, I have no idea about the fish species but you are really good with that camera! Congratulations on that shot.

Jackie Sones said...

Thanks! This one was more luck than anything else...and a lesson in not assuming that it's too late. The Osprey showed up unexpectedly (I didn't see it coming), so by the time I could get my camera out, the Osprey was already past me. But I noticed the fish and decided to try taking a picture anyway. It's not a great shot of the Osprey, but it's a fun shot of the fish.

:) Jackie

Matt Robart said...

Cool picture! Given its size it's much more likely to be a jacksmelt but since the photo doesn't show the first dorsal it's still possible for it to be a topsmelt.

Jackie Sones said...

Hey, Matt! Good to hear from you! Thanks for the input on the fish i.d. When trying to identify it, I realized that the Osprey's talons were interfering with the visibility of the dorsal fins. Perhaps that's often an issue in this position.

:) Jackie