Normally I spend at least two or three days a week on Clear Lake. While my primary reason for being out there is to fish for bass, I often sight an otter or an unusual bird and end up forgetting all about fishing.
That happened last week when I was fishing near Lakeport. I spotted a white American pelican in obvious distress. As I slowly approached the giant bird with my boat I noticed the tail of a large fish sticking out of the pelican”s bill.
The fish turned out to be a 5-pound carp that the pelican had scooped up and was trying to swallow. The fish was so large that the pelican couldn”t get it down and was swimming around in circles.
On Monday, I saw another pelican just off Library Park in Lakeport swallow a 3-pound carp. I always thought pelicans fed on small baitfish, which they corral by driving the schools of small fish into the shallows. However, research shows us that pelicans will capture and eat fish as large as 4 pounds.
Last year the lake played host to more than 1,000 pelicans. They were here because of the billions of threadfin shad. However, once the shad population crashed, the pelicans moved on to other lakes. A few remained and this year there are approximately 50 pelicans on the lake.
A pelican weighs up to 30 pounds and will eat from 3-10 pounds of fish per day. One reason the pelicans are feeding on the carp is because the carp are still spawning and will thresh near the surface of the water, where they are vulnerable to the pelicans. Many of the carp weigh only 1-3 pounds, which the pelican can catch and consume with little trouble.
Whereas it is possible that a few pelicans do nest at Clear Lake I have never seen a young pelican chick. Most of the pelicans here now are non-breeding birds.
Another bird that I had the opportunity to observe this week was an osprey catching a bass. The osprey swooped down near my boat and grabbed a 2-pound bass. As he flew away, he turned the fish around so that the head of the bass faced forward, which cuts the wind drag.
Twenty years ago there were few ospreys on Clear Lake, but now they are abundant. They are a fascinating bird to say the least.
Osprey feed almost exclusively on fish and are one of the largest fish-eating hawks in existence. Their primary food is bass, small carp and even crappie or catfish. They have extremely keen eyesight and will watch for fish from a high perch, usually a tall dead tree. When they spot a fish cruising near the surface they soar above the fish and then dive straight down. Their nostrils are designed to close when they hit the water.
Osprey have long talons with which to grip the fish and the unusual part is that they can reverse their outer toe to improve their grip. They also have backward facing scales on their talons that act much like the barb on a fish hook to hold the fish. Once they grab the fish they always turn it so that the head is facing forward, which makes it easier to fly. They live as long as 25 years.
Osprey are constantly adding sticks and grass to their nests and after several years the nests can become very large. The young are not hatched at the same time, a system that gives the older chicks an advantage. In fact, if food is scarce, the older chicks will dominate and the young ones often die. The parents are fiercely protective of their young. A few years ago I observed a blue heron fly up to an unattended osprey nest with the intent of stealing the chicks. The adult ospreys saw the heron and both dive-bombed the bird and drove it off, saving their young. Ospreys can be observed at many locations around Clear Lake.
The abundance of birds and other wildlife on Clear Lake makes every trip an adventure, and that”s why I always carry a pair of binoculars with me. What is surprising is that there are no regularly guided bird-watching trips on Clear Lake. I think it would be a golden opportunity for a resort or another business.
