We observed this bird soaring high over south White Rock Creek on a beautiful Saturday morning. We could see that this was a bird of prey, but it was clearly not one of the usual suspects. It was too elegant to be a Red-tailed Hawk or a Red-shouldered Hawk, too big to be a Mississippi Kite, and had too short of a tail to be a Cooper’s Hawk.

These pictures are not very good. They were taken at extremely long distance, and quality results were not expected. But, there was something unusual about this bird (at least in my experience), and I just couldn’t identify it in the field. I took these photographs hoping they would at least be good enough that I could compare them against my reference material back at the house.

They were. This is the first Osprey I have ever observed in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. An exciting find!

Observations Details

County – Dallas
City – Dallas
Date – Sep 22, 2012
Time of Day – Morning
Temperature – Hot (greater than 89°F/32°C)
Weather – Partly Cloudy
Habitat – Recreation-Park
Type of Behavior – Flying
Gender – Uncertain
Maturity – Adult
Observer – Chris Jackson
Main Article – Osprey Observation Location