In the entire time I have been filming on the Patuxent, I can count on less than one hand how many times an osprey has caught a fish right out in front of me AND caught it while facing toward me, not with it's back to me. It has everything to do with the wind. The prevailing wind from the west is blowing in my face as I stand on the eastern shore, so there are few days in which the wind cooperates. Osprey - and all other birds for that matter - face into the wind to both take off and land. If the wind is at their back, they cannot control their flight very well. So, it is a practical matter.
It just so happened that a couple of mornings ago, a front was pushing through the area and the wind had turned around to the east. So when this osprey dropped down and caught the fish, it was facing me. They never look down at the spot where the fish is located. That is part of the reason why it looks so nonchalant when they do catch a fish since they never seem to look at it. In fact, in this frame and the one before, it appeared to be staring right at me. It also did the tradition fly-over, showing me it's catch. Notice how inordinately long the bird's left wing appears. The other one is just as long, but it is foreshortened in this image.
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