Catch of the day

    Perched atop a snag near the east end of the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp, a young osprey (leg band number KT) dines on a fresh channel catfish. The bird is one of four nestling ospreys relocated to Clear Lake during July. The birds were obtained from wild nests in Wisconsin and Minnesota. According to osprey volunteer caretaker and Clear Lake Mayor, Nelson Crabb, the young bird is expected to begin its southward migration later this month. Young ospreys travel as far south as Venezuela. The migration is unique among birds in that the young will not return to North America until they are two years old. As surviving adults return north, it is hoped the birds will reestablish a nesting population of wild ospreys to Iowa lakes and waterways. -Photo by Lowell Washburn.