Osprey

[Guy Miner]

I really like these birds, but I've had a tough time getting good in-flight photos of them.

Every year, first week of April, the osprey return here and nest. :grin: We've built some nesting platforms and they've built nests on sites of their own choosing. My little city is at the confluence of two rivers, the Wenatchee, and the much larger Columbia. Fish? Oh ya, we've got fish! The osprey love the fish.

They are so cool. Eagles will grab and carry a fish any ol' way. Osprey typically move the fish around in their talons so that it's facing forward. This seems to be a way to make the load more streamlined. Or perhaps they're just giving the fish a last glimpse of the river & land below... :wink:

On this morning's six mile walk, again I failed to get a good photo of an osprey in flight, but I did get a pretty good photo of this one, hanging out on the nest site, on some power poles. This is within the city limits.

Years ago the boys and I were fishing a nearby lake from the canoe. I was in the stern, paddling. We weren't doing well but it was a lovely day. An osprey suddenly dove from above and snatched a fish from the lake, no more than 20 yards from us... All of us had wide eyes. What an amazing thing to see.

I'll take a look back through my older photos for osprey. I've got a couple that are decent enough to share.

Regards, Guy

 

[Guy Miner]

Last year, rollin' in hot:

Soaring over the river:

Drying the wings after a dip in the river after a fish:

Taking flight! The bird had just launched from a branch:

A project of mine this spring & summer is to get some really good photos of the osprey. They're an awesome bird. Even if they do out-fish me time after time.

Guy

 

[DrMike]

Neat photos, Guy. Yes, Osprey are thrilling to see as they work the streams. Don't have any up here that I've seen, but we often watched them when I lived in the Lower Mainland.

 

[cloverleaf]

Guy- Herons are definitely great sentinels. The Osprey is super cool. CL

 

[Guy Miner]

Cool photo CL, is that someplace you hunt?

Guy

 

[cloverleaf]

Cool photo CL, is that someplace you hunt?

Guy

Nope- A couple miles from my house, here in the middle of town, Target Stores Corporate has bought up a bunch of land. Formerly small vegetable and fruit farms, knocked down the buildings and let it go fallow. Occasionally, they hire some one to farm a portion of it, or just mow the weeds. Old shelter belts, plumb thickets, fields and old fence lines, that they haven't paved yet. Each year it gets smaller.... However, there is one dead end "city street" through a portion of it and my wife and I like to sit back in there and look at the "Wild life" in the city.

Perfect spot for deer and turkeys, urban hawks etc.even the occasional Coyote and fox. Some of the deer in there get to be really nice...no hunting pressure. It Lets me work on trigger control w/ the camera.

 

[Guy Miner]

Pretty cool.

Ya, our city used to have quite a bit of undeveloped land within the boundary, but... not so much anymore. We still get a lot of deer in the city every winter, as they come down out of the high hills.

Guy

 

[Guy Miner]

Dog and I took a 5 mile walk this afternoon. Very windy. I think we may have gotten our best osprey photo ever:

Guy

 

[DrMike]

That is an excellent photo, to be sure.

 

[JD338]

Beautiful picture Guy!

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

Thanks guys - the dog is getting used to sitting still when I raise the camera. I don't think he knows what I'm doing, but he knows I want him to be still and quiet.

This osprey was sitting on a nest above us while we were walking on a paved trail. I stopped to look, thought about taking a photo and suddenly it took wing. I was fortunate to be ready, and close. :grin:

 

[Gun nut]

Oh yeah!! Great photo - look at those eyes! Thanks.
Duane

 

[noslerpartition]

Geeehh, love to see your pictures!
What kind of equipment do you use?
I am usually limited to my phone.
And we do not have the wildlife you have.

Would love to see such scenes just walking the dog...

Gesendet von meinem HUAWEI VNS-L31 mit Tapatalk

 

[JD338]

This osprey was sitting on a nest above us while we were walking on a paved trail. I stopped to look, thought about taking a photo and suddenly it took wing. I was fortunate to be ready, and close. :grin:

Guy, I have to laugh at this.
About 2 weeks ago, I walked out of the garage service door at day break heading to the pole barn to listen for gobbling turkeys prior to the season opening. As I turned down the driveway with coffee in hand, I looked up and not 75 feet away is a Bald Eagle 30 feet up in a tree. I froze and we had a standoff for several seconds. Then I realized I had my phone in my pants pocket. I reached for it as the eagle tensed up and got it out. As I raised the Camera, he flew away. I sure wish I would have been ready. I might have been able to contribute with a picture of a Bald Eagle! At least I can admire your photos!

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

Was on some cliffs overlooking the river, a great place to watch ducks, geese, eagles and the osprey. Managed this shot of the osprey zooming past:

I'm using a reasonably compact camera that I like a lot, the Olympus OMD with a 75-300 lens. More lens would be helpful, but am getting it done with the 300mm.

JD338 - ya - I lose so many photos because I'm not ready when the shot opportunity happens! My dog is particularly good at delaying me... LOL! He's a hoot. I've learned to not get irritated at him when he blows a photo opportunity for me, we have too much fun on our walks for me to get upset about that.

And yes, I am blessed to live in an area where I can go outside and find wildlife pretty much any day. Often within the city limits or quite close. Most of these photos are taken from a walking/cycling trail that runs along the banks of the Columbia River, within walking distance from home. If you're a strong walker.

Guy

 

[Guy Miner]

Maverick and I got another pretty good photo of an osprey landing at the nest yesterday, very close to the Columbia River. We were standing very still (thanks Mav) on a dock when I saw the osprey heading to the nest. I waited, and got it just as the bird spread it's wings to brake.

Guy

 

[DrMike]

Beautiful photo, Guy. Truly captures the majesty of the bird.

 

[Slimfinn]

Awesome pics Guy! I thought I saw my first osprey this weekend flying around the pond near our house looking for the baby geese and ducks. And now seeing your pictures I can confirm it was an osprey. You are lucky, have some great walks, and take some amazing photographs, thanks for sharing them with us.