Osprey
Fort De Soto, Florida.
Pandion landing on! This unique and inimitable raptor takes its Greek genus name from the legendary father of Procne and Philomela, unfortunate women both, who perhaps get some measure of consolation for their sufferings by being transformed, respectively, into the Swallow and the Nightingale. Greek myth offers no such birdward metamorphosis for Pandion; but (at least for bird lovers who read Ovid!) the name still resonates. The Osprey’s full scientific name is Pandion haliaetus: the second word means “sea eagle.” Seacoasts and waterways over large parts of the world would be far lesser places without this dashing inhabitant.