Who dares wins as duck defies osprey

MAYBE it was something in the water, but this female duck was one angry bird when she took on an osprey.

The duck ended up on the bird of prey’s back as it dropped a trout it had caught into the loch before fleeing.

Wildlife photographer Andy Howard was stunned to witness the clash at Rothiemurchus near Aviemore, Inverness-shire.

‘I’ve never seen anything like this – a female mallard duck launching a vicious attack on an osprey,’ said Mr Howard, from Inverness. ‘Everything happened so fast – the whole sequence only lasts for a few seconds from when the osprey dived until it took off again.

‘It wasn’t until after the event that I noticed exactly what I had captured, the mallard flying across the pond towards the osprey. ’

The mallard hen did not have any ducklings with her and Mr Howard, 47, remains puzzled as to why she should react so violently.

‘Ducks can be fiercely protective towards their young, but an osprey poses no threat to the ducklings as its diet consists only of fish,’ he said.

Ospreys return to the Highlands every year from over-wintering in Africa.

‘I’ve never seen anything like this’

Fearless: The mallard, now in the water, continues to face up to the osprey until it eventually turns tail and flees the loch

Attack: The angry mallard tackles the osprey catching its prey

Locked in combat: The harried osprey has to drop the fish

Hanging on: The two birds struggle