To infinity and beyond

Once extinct in these isles, the gargantuan, deep-diving osprey locks onto its piscine prey with a laser-like precision akin to the trajectory of a blunt-tipped missile.

- Mark Cocker

SECOND only to our eagles in size, with a wingspan of 5½ft, the osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is among this country's most impressive birds. The signature drama attached to its name is considered one of the most awe-inspiring sights in all of British Nature. Ospreys are fish-eating and known to catch a wide variety of species, such as trout and salmon, but also pike, grey mullet, carp and even flounder. The hunting scenario unfolds with a bird hovering sometimes nearly 100ft above a river or lake, where it shifts angle and elevation until it locks with laser-like acuity onto the prey below. That triggers a long lunging dive, when the wings stretch behind the body like the fins on some blunt-tipped missile. With enormous force, the bird plunges under and then settles momentarily at the surface, riding its own heaving bow-wave. Thanks to its extra-long claws and coarsely spiked feet for grip, an osprey often pauses on resurfacing to secure any invisible prey. Then, up it heaves, the wings working in wide rotation until it is airborne once more, glittering water droplets all around and, occasionally, clutching a fish weighing as much as itself.