That's an osprey

I was in such a humble posture of gratitude as I watched this magnificent bird of prey swoop down into the water many times, crashing into it's surface and making a huge splash, only to recompose itself and soar back into the vast sky to do it all over again. Almost 2 hours I watched as it soared past the Boathouse and the pump house across the lake; I watched,  cradling the telephoto lens of my Nikon SLR, snapping photos and peering above the camera with my own eyes, hoping that any of the shots I was taking were worth a fraction of what I was witnessing.

Finally, that bird caught a heavy, long honker of a fish, thick and meaty. I watched as it lifted the fish clean out of the water with it's monstrous talons. Those partially wet wings pumping against gravity's unwavering resistance. But off the surface the bird recklessly and rebelliously lifted, along with it's hard, but well earned, dinner.