Tag: #osprey

As the Osprey Flies

The osprey is a bold, vocal and athletic bird. In Florida I enjoy watching them soar, pluck fish out of the water and return to the nest to feed the young. This week I aimed my camera lens at one osprey while it was looking for fish in a lake. Then I combined four images into one composite showing the same osprey in flight in four positions.

osprey, flight, birds, birdphotography, naplesflorida, florida, fishing, soaring, raptor, nature, wildlife
Enjoy the strength and grace of the Osprey in flight in this composite image. Zoom in to see even better.

Osprey: Shelter in Place

As our boat passed this Osprey family on their nest Sunday evening, I thought about our human families adjusting our lifestyles to “shelter in place,” and slow the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.

You have to admire the parental behavior of these beautiful Osprey. One parent will hunt for fish and bring it back to the nest to feed the family, and then tear apart the prey and feed the baby. Both parents keep a close eye out for any perceived threats coming close, such as bald eagles or humans. You can see the yellow eyes of mother Osprey on the right, hoping we will keep our distance. We were farther from the nest than it appears, as I made this photo with a 400mm Sony lens.

osprey_family_nest
Osprey pair bring food to their baby in the nest near Naples, Florida. March 2020

Who can resist the big amber eyes of the baby Osprey looking at the camera with naive curiosity. Babies of every species are precious.

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The Prize Winning Photo

One of these action shots of an osprey pair won first prize in the Royal Poinciana Golf Club’s 2019 Nature Photography contest. In this image, the female osprey is landing in the nest.
In this second image, the female osprey eyes the incoming osprey with a wary eye. You can identify the female with the brown speckles on the white breast feathers.

While I didn’t like the post in the center of the top image, the osprey in flight looked amazing. I like to photograph wildlife in action and let the image tell a story of wildlife behavior when possible. To achieve this, you need a fast shutter speed that will freeze action and produce a sharp image. It helps when the subject is well lit and the photographer is facing away from the sun. There is some luck involved, but practice, practice, practice allows you to be “lucky” and successful more often.

Osprey On Watch

It’s March and nesting season on Sanibel Island, Florida. While the mother osprey are tending eggs or new hatchlings in the nest, the fathers can be spotted nearby on the high branch of a tree. This father osprey is manning his high branch perch, even as the branch bobs in the wind.

#sanibel, #osprey, #eye, #male, #perch, #dusk, #dingdarling
As he faces the setting sun, the osprey’s eye reflects bright yellow and he opens his mouth to cry out.

“Feed me, Mama!”

Three young osprey were chirping up a storm, while Mama took a bath in nearby tidal waters and then dried her feathers while perched atop a nearby tree. Finally, Mama Osprey came to the rescue and landed on the nest.

#osprey, #nest, #babies, #cry, #chirp, #hungry, #pelicanbay, #naples, #florida, #wildlife, #birds, #nature
Mother osprey answers the hunger cries of her three babies, landing on the nest at Pelican Bay’s South Beach in Naples, Florida.

With a shutter speed of 1/1000 second, my Nikon D800 froze the action as Mama Osprey landed on her young.