Here's something I've never seen before

I was at Whitesbog this morning and saw an Osprey, which is unusual in itself. The hawk hovered over Union Pond, as they do, but then, instead of plunging down for a fish, it just sat its ass down in the water. I have never seen an Osprey cool its butt like this. The photo is a blurry digiscope, but you can clearly see that this bird is half in the water.

Raptors were the most interesting birds I saw on my 4 mile walk around the bogs--in addition to the Osprey, there was good looking female Northern Harrier flying over the bogs (perhaps explaining the dearth of shorebirds), and way back in the bogs I saw a Merlin zip by and through a small flock of Tree Swallows.

21 species
Mallard  2
Great Blue Heron  8
Great Egret  2
Green Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  3
Osprey  1
Northern Harrier  1
Semipalmated Plover  1
Greater Yellowlegs  1    Heard
Mourning Dove  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Merlin  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1    Heard
Blue Jay  1    Heard
American Crow  11
Tree Swallow  15
Carolina Wren  1    Heard
Gray Catbird  5    Heard
Common Yellowthroat  1
Pine Warbler  1    Heard
Eastern Towhee  2    Heard