PHOTOS: Great images as ospreys return to Moray
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These two ospreys have been spotted in the skies above Moray having made the 3000-mile flight from the west coast of Africa where they spent the winter.
Ospreys are piscivorous, which means that fish make up to 99% of their diet, although occasionally they may prey on rodents, frogs, rabbits or hares.
They have the ability to detect objects moving under the water from up to 130ft in the air. After hovering momentarily, they then plunge in feet first, often completely submerging their entire bodies.
As an osprey dives it adjusts the angle of its flight to account for the distortion of the fish's image caused by refraction.
They will typically eat their catch on a nearby perch but have also been known to carry it for a longer distance.
Ospreys are about 2ft in length, have a wing span of nearly 6ft and usually mate for life.
There are now approximately 250 breeding pairs in the UK, producing around 260 chicks a year.
According to the Ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder, who incidentally died near Pompeii during the famous eruption, ospreys test their young fly by making them up to the sun, killing any who fail the challenge.
Regular contributor Hazel Thomson manged to take photos of two different ospreys after spotting them over Lossiemouth Estuary.
She said: “It was lovely to see them back and being kept busy, hopefully feeding chicks.”
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