Trip Report: Dee Dee Bartels 3-28-20

A few of us met at Dee Dee Bartels on Saturday to view birds while state parks and beaches are closed. We kept our group to less than 10 and practiced social distancing. It felt great to get outdoors after isolating most of our time indoors while we contend with the current pandemic. We observed  both small birds as well as large birds. I expected to be impressed with sightings of small bird species such as Yellow-throated Warbler and Northern Parula, but the big bird species stole the show. An Osprey was securing its catch of a large Sea Trout at the top of a stump tree. We then moved about 500 feet away and noticed a Bald Eagle making a beeline to the Osprey. Sure enough, the Bald Eagle stole the trout and flew back over us with the Osprey in hot and futile pursuit. Everyone wondered how the Eagle, who has its nest a good mile from where the Osprey was eating its catch, could detect that the Osprey had a fish. We were also treated to a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers flying over the parking lot and a Swallow-tailed Kite near the end of our trip.