by Tom Chillemi –
Sonia Honaker has seen a lot during 50 years at her riverfront home in the upper reaches of the Piankatank River.
Eagles and ospreys live here and fish these waters hunting in early morning and late afternoon until dusk. The numbers have improved for the ospreys but the eagles are not as plentiful. “I have witnessed up to six ospreys hunting at the same time . . . maybe they’re training the younger birds.”
Honaker said that in all her years on the river since 1967, there’s been some really unusual things — a snapping turtle as big as a tire, an airplane crash (no one was hurt), boat races, and even a black swan. But after all this, a “flying fish” tops the list of things that happened at her Piankatank Shores subdivision near Hartfield in Middlesex County.
There’s a saying by Ben Franklin that goes something like this, “Don’t believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see.” This could be one of those stories that’s hard to believe.
It was a regular Monday afternoon in early spring 2020, Brenton Honaker was watching TV at his Piankatank Shores home when all of a sudden he heard “a big bang” and then glass breaking. He looked outside, didn’t see anything, so he went out to investigate. “I walked towards the front of the house, nothing,” said Brenton. “I went to the side of the house and I saw what hit it.” There on the ground lay a large croaker, maybe four pounds. A minute earlier it had been a projectile speeding towards his window. The impact broke the glass and left a mess.
“I guess flying fish are the next thing to look out for,” he joked. “I will be replacing the window and mom will be eating the croaker.” It’s in the freezer.
So what happened? Fish don’t fly . . . but birds do. The fish probably slipped from the talons of an osprey or eagle, said Sonia Honaker, Brenton’s mother. The birds may have been fighting for the fish, a raider trying to steal dinner.
It was a rare day — the kind that might only come along once in a long while.
