YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Farewell, little trout.
Yellowstone National Park (YNP) photographer Jacob W. Frank snapped a series of majestic osprey photos in the park last week, including two shots of the raptor clutching a doomed brown trout in its talons.
“The osprey is the only raptor whose outer toe is reversible, allowing it to grasp its prey with two toes in front and two behind,” the National Park Service website states. “Ospreys excel at aerodynamic dives while hunting. They are known to soar high above their prey and then dive feet first at full force into the water, often fully submerging themselves to bring up their catch. Their feet have barbed pads that have evolved to help them hold onto slippery fish. They carry the fish head first to make as aerodynamic a flight as possible.”
Ospreys can be spotted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from spring to fall, usually close to bodies of water. Frank glimpsed one of the birds perched along the Gibbon River in YNP.
In the Jackson area, they are frequent fliers in the Snake River corridor, and they inhabit gigantic nests along WY22 and WY390.
