Learning to fish requires many skills...

I know I have written this all before, but it bears repeating. There are a lot of skills the fledglings need to acquire to fish successfully. They first practice diving into the water and getting lift off out of the water...tricky. Sometimes this starts with foot dragging thru the water as they fly. Then they usually try to pick up something floating in the water...a stick, or once at the hack site a young osprey brought a beer can back to us. This requires the ability to fly carrying something and land on a perch with one foot, while grasping something with the other. One of the nest monitors watched a young osprey this year fly to a cell tower with a stick, and act as if she had a fish, mantling over it. Practicing. I have seen first successful fishing attempts fall apart at this point when the young bird drops the fish when he or she lands. Eventually they will accomplish all the tasks above, and will be on their way to independence. Sigh.