Ospreys Nesting

Ospreys Nesting

I posted a photo of this family on April 26, if you want to see how much they've grown. I believe the one on the left is one of the chicks and the parents are in the middle and on the right. They only thing that leads me to believe that this is the chick is the one on the left has yellow eyes, while the other two have orange eyes. In the other post, there were 2 chicks and they were both still fuzzy at the time. Now this chick is nearly the same size as his/her parents. I have no idea where the other one is, maybe it's fledged???

Ospreys (Pandion halliaetus) are raptors in the Hawk and Eagle family. They are rather large birds with a wing span of 5ft, 6in and they are 23 inches in length from tail to head. The dark line through their eye is a  good identifying factor. They hover just before they dive for a fish and can be seen flying with the fish head first in their talons, once they catch their fish.

They are resident year long in Florida and can be found near any body of water where they can fish for food. Their diet consists almost exclusively of fish.

Osprey Feeding Chicks

Osprey Feeding Chicks

It's that time of year again; the Osprey are nesting. Almost everywhere you go in Florida you'll see Osprey nests, especially along the I-4 corridor. This particular nest is in Bradenton, FL where my friend lives. This pair of Osprey have been nesting here for the past 4 or 5 years. Two of this year's clutch is shown in the photo. they're finally big enough to see over the nest.

Ospreys (Pandion halliaetus) are raptors in the Hawk and Eagle family. They are rather large birds with a wing span of 5ft, 6in and they are 23 inches in length from tail to head. The dark line through their eye is a  good identifying factor. They hover just before they dive for a fish and can be seen flying with the fish head first in their talons, once they catch their fish.

They are resident year long in Florida and can be found near any body of water where they can fish for food. Their diet consists almost exclusively of fish.

Shooting Osprey

Today my friend, Margo, and I went shooting at Sawgrass Lake Park. It's one of my favorite parks to shoot. It's almost a guarantee that one will find wildlife around 8:00 am. Today was no different.

Before we even got into to the park we spotted a Little Blue Heron, a Snowy Egret and a Tricolor Heron on the edge of the canal. We made a few shots of the Tricolor Heron and went off into the park.

A few minutes later, we spotted a young Raccoon, less than 5 ft away, and he didn't mind it one bit that we were taking pictures of him. In fact, he didn't pay any attention to us at all. Right after that, we saw an American Alligator, but there was too much brush between him and us. We couldn't get off a decent shot of him. Then the fun began. We spotted this Osprey hunting above the water.

I told Margo to shoot anything successfully, you need to know a lot about it. Just like in sports, to get the best shot, you need to know the sport enough to know where the action is and to be ready for it when it happens.

While watching this Osprey circling, I told her that in a few minutes she'd see him spread out his talons, like in the second photo in this series. After that, we'd see him hovering, then he'd dive and they always get their fish.

These shots show all of these actions just as they were unfolding. The first shot is of him circling, the second spreading his talons, then the hovering followed by the dive.

It's amazing to see how fast they can dive and how hard they hit the water; and just as fast, with wet wings, come up with their fish. They always carry the fish head first because there is less drag and it's pretty difficult for a bird that size to fly with wet wings.

What an amazing experience it is to capture all these steps in a sequence. They are awesome birds to watch.

Later, on the way out of the park we saw another American Alligator and we were able to get some decent shots of it before we left.

On the way out, Margo spotted a Gopher Tortoise and we stopped to grab a few photos of him as well.

I can't get over how much wildlife we spotted today. It was such a productive day.

I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed making these shots. Don't forget to check out Margo's post. She'll probably be posting something from today's shoot. You can find her blog here: http://mangosphotos.blogspot.com/. Check it out; she's an amazing photographer with an awesome eye.

Osprey Flight Formation

Yesterday, my meetup group and I met at Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, FL. We took a walk on the Osprey Trail to see a Bald Eagle nest and hopefully a glimpse of the Eaglets. Unfortunately, the area next to the nest was cordoned off, so we weren't able to get very close to the nest so I couldn't get very good shots of it.

I did however, get some great shots of the Ospreys in their nests and the Osprey chicks. These two were flying doing some kind of dance near their nest. I'm not sure what they were doing, but it was thrilling to watch them fly overhead.

This is one of my favorite shots of these two. Actually, it's one of my favorite shots of the day. I love how they're flying so close in formation. A fast shutter speed and high ISO allowed me to get this sharply detailed shot. I used + 1 1/2 stops exposure compensation since I was shooting in the sky which allowed me to hold the shadows from blowing out and keep detail in their whites.

I'll be posting more shots from this shoot at a later time.

Osprey in Flight

There is something about a bird in flight that I can't ignore no matter how hard I try. I especially like to photograph Osprey.

Osprey are fascinating birds to me because of all the Birds of Prey, the Osprey is the only one that eats a diet of fish only. It's amazing to see them glide way up high above the water while looking for their next meal. All of sudden, they'll hover for a few seconds, then dive so fast they're hard to track--even with our eyes, then slam into the water and come up just as quickly with their catch. They also will turn the fish around head first so there is less drag and it makes it easier to fly. It's such an amazing site.

I've also watched them on the nest. The male brings the first fish back to the female who feeds it to her clutch, or if they haven't hatched yet, she'll eat it herself. Then the male goes back to get a fish for himself to eat. He'll usually sit on a perch about level or slightly above the nest on a nearby tree so (I assume) he can watch his family. Imagine, with humans it's also the male who primarily makes the money to buy the food for his family as well. I wonder who started that. Was it the birds, the animal kingdom or humans? It seems we all do the same thing.

That should keep you wondering until tomorrow night.

Osprey in my Tree

This one is the most elusive, hard to photograph bird I've ever photographed. He perches in this tree overlooking the river behind my house whenever he's hungry. For over 2 years I've been trying to photograph him but have rarely got a really good one.

It seems he's learned the chimes on my door from my alarm. As soon as he hears the chimes, he checks to see if I have my camera. Then he does one of two things. If I have my camera, he lets out a couple of screeches to let me know he's seen me and takes off across the lake. If I don't have my camera he buzzes my head and goes back up to the tree.

The only way I can catch him is if I go out my front door and walk all around the house while I keep really low and be careful to hide behind trees, my shed or whatever I can think of. Then once I think I'm close enough, I quickly come out, capture my image and he takes off. I only get 1 shot if I'm lucky and I have to be quick. This is the result of one of the lucky shots.

I think I like the hunt as much as getting the photograph. :)

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