Down to 1300 grams. He didn’t dive at several fish that should have gotten his attention.
I rigged a fish on a monofilament line and suspended it in 10 inches of water directly in front of the osprey’s hunting perch. He fixated and head-bobbed but was very reluctant to dive. He made a couple of half-hearted attempts and seemed uninterested, even when I moved the fish around and put it at a very shallow depth.
I eventually detached the fish and just threw it in the water in front of him. He immediately dove hard and caught it in the water. He must have aimed for its path.
Is it possible that ospreys aim just in front of the fish, leading it like a trap shooter leads the clay pigeon? The fish will first move forward (and fast) when startled by the talons hitting the water.
The osprey circled around with his new fish and landed on the hunting perch. I bobbled the trade off and away he went–a fish in his talons and a tidbit in his beak. On the repeat landing, he dropped the tidbit out just before he landed. The second tradeoff was successful, and he flew to my glove after he finished his tidbit.
I’m clipping him to my glove and hooding him regularly. The hooding is a fight, but he calms down well and isn’t holding grudges. So far.