Osprey at Nimi

This nesting osprey is one among the pairs at Nimisilla Reservoir (the southern most of the Portage Lakes south of Akron). Click on it to enlarge. It's a beautiful bird. I snapped it from my kayak as the stiff NW wind was pushing me toward the nest closer than I wanted. The bird flapped off just after this shot. It's a spectacular sight to see them drop into the water to capture fish. Years ago, while windsurfing there, we saw lone birds fishing once in awhile. For the last several years, they have returned for nesting. A few minutes after taking this picture, I rolled my boat (unintentionally). Fortunately, my camera was in a sealed bag. I had to make a decision whether, after righting the kayak, to deploy an oar float and climb in (difficult) and then pump the gallons of water out with a small pump or swim the boat to shore. I was a quarter mile or so off shore and decided to swim it. Filled with water, it felt like a barge and when i finally hauled it out, I felt like I had run a 10k.