Recently Environment Canada biologist Debbie van de Wetering was driving back to Whitehorse after completing a roadside survey of waterfowl breeding pairs between Marsh Lake and Rancheria.

That's when her truck hit the fish.

"I had just driven over the bridge at Johnson's Crossing and was climbing the hill when I saw this Osprey, carrying a fish, flying in from the right," she explains. "It must have just caught the fish in the river and was flying up the hill."

"I was pretty thrilled about the whole thing until I realized, too late, that the bird was so intent on its catch that it didn't notice my truck."

Van de Wetering hit the brakes, but it was too late. She clipped the fish with the top left corner of the windshield and saw the tail of the Osprey flare out against the windshield before the bird flipped up over the top of the truck.

"The fish went skidding up the highway in front of me and ended up in the ditch on the other side of the road," she says.

She stopped the truck and searched without success for the Osprey.

"I never saw it so I assume it wasn't hurt badly. I think I really just hit its legs out from under it, and it flew away," says van de Wetering.

"I had a hard time finding the fish. It was still alive and had flopped and rolled down to the bottom of the ditch, covered in gravel."

The 30-centimetre Whitefish ended its very bad day stranded in a ditch far from the river, victim of both a predator and a traffic accident. Van de Wetering left the fish in the hope that the Osprey or some other animal might still make a meal of it.

"I took a couple of digital photos as I didn't expect anyone to believe my story without at least some proof!"

Osprey, like the bird that had such a close encounter with van de Wetering's truck, are also known as Fish Hawks, says Cameron Eckert of the Yukon Bird Club.

They specialize in catching live fish, by flying over clear water and watching for fish swimming and feeding near the surface. Once an Osprey spots a fish, it tucks its wings and plummets feet-first into the water, hitting with a loud splash and grabbing the fish with its long curved talons.

Osprey claws are well adapted for holding a slippery squirming fish. They have rough projections called spicules that give a good grip, and the outer toes can rotate so that two talons on each foot clasp from the front and two from the back.

"Osprey nest near medium to large lakes and rivers. They build a large stick nest, usually quite close to water," says Eckert.

In the Yukon, there are localized breeding populations in the Southern Lakes area and at Old Crow Flats. The birds often return to the same nests year after year, repairing them each spring by piling on more sticks.

Osprey are large birds, about 55 to 65 centimetres long, with wingspans over a metre and a half. The females are, on average, larger than the males.

The adults have strongly hooked black bills, bright yellow eyes, dark brown feathers on their backs and white underparts. The head is white with a dark brown eye stripe. Their wings are crooked like a gull's rather than straight like an eagle.

"During migration, Osprey are seen along lakes and rivers," says Eckert. "For example, in early May, a couple of migrant Osprey spent a few days fishing along the Yukon River in Whitehorse -- much to the delight of local birdwatchers."

For more information about Osprey, call the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, at (867) 393-6700, or contact the Yukon Bird Club through its website at www.yukonweb.com/community/ybc/