Catch An Osprey By The Tail

[sm4him]

Well, I finally took a day and went back to finding some birds to shoot. Haven't spent a whole day out looking for birds since Memorial Day--just really haven't had the heart for it, I think. Still struggling with that, but I figured if anything could pique my interest again, it would be watching my favorite Osprey family.

It's a good 90-minute drive from me--last year, I went quite a bit and watched Mama & Papa Osprey from nesting to babies to fledglings. This year, I went one time in late March, after I heard they were back, and hadn't been back since.

I've heard they had 3 babies this year, but something happened to one of them, so only two made it to the fledgling stage. When I went on Saturday, I sort of hoped to find them practicing to fledge, like I did last year. To my surprise, both juveniles had already fledged. But, they still seem at least somewhat dependent on Mom and Dad to supply their fish.

The only disappointment of the day was that I never saw a single one of them dive for a fish--not the juveniles OR the adults. They'd evidently found a fishing site out of view. But otherwise, it was a wonderful day--free Osprey entertainment, a gorgeous HOT sunny day and a 3-hour round trip drive in the convertible. Oh, and the sunburn to document it.

Here's a few of the results.

1. "Catch An Osprey By The Tail." Okay, it was actually cleaning its tail, but it kinda looked like a dog chasing its tail. It was fun to watch.
Catch An Osprey By the Tail by sm4him, on Flickr

2. Osprey Kisses
Okay, so they aren't really kissing. Mama flew in with a fish and started hollering, and before long, this juvenile showed up to get fed a meal. The other never showed up for feeding time, so I'm thinking it's a little further along and already managing to fish for itself.
Osprey Kisses by sm4him, on Flickr

3. In for a landing
Dagnabit, I clipped the wing!!
Landing Gear Down by sm4him, on Flickr

4. Splish, Splash, Taking a Bath
First Mama flew down to the water, then the juvenile joined her. Mama flew off in short order, but juvenile stayed around for quite a while. These are only lightly cropped. The Osprey was probably only about 25 or 30 feet from me at this point, and didn't really seem to care.
Osprey Bath 2 by sm4him, on Flickr

5. Lucky Shot of the Day
This was one of the first shots I took. When I pulled in, Mama was on the nest and one Juvenile was on a nearby pole eating a fish (see #2--I now think this is the juvie that has started to fish for itself). Anyway, I stupidly didn't even LOOK at my settings--I'd switched the camera to the U1 setting (my default bird in flight setting) before I arrived, not realizing that the camera had shifted a bit in the car and the dial had gotten switched.
So, the camera was in a Scene mode (the little "tulip" symbol, isn't that some kind of fake macro setting?), and it was also on 1/500 second.
Thinking I was shooting at 1/1000 sec, I grabbed this as the juvenile took off from the pole. Turned out pretty well, all things considered! ;-)
Juvenile Osprey in Flight by sm4him, on Flickr

More on my flickr page.
As always, C&C, general comments, shouts of acclamation and witty banter are all appreciated and stored in my great storehouse of things people think about my photos.

 

[robbins.photo]

Well I checked my witty banter bin, naught left in it but dust.. lol.

But love these, the bath and in flight shots in particular

 

[tirediron]

Outstanding Sharon!

 

[coastalconn]

Nice work Sharon! Nice to see those juvi's zipping around! Another week or 2 and it will be the same thing up here...

 

[DarkShadow]

Outstanding shots with superb detail.Great Job Sharon and nice to see you posting again.

 

[baturn]

Wonderful! Particularly #2 and #4.

 

[willard3]

Very nice series.

 

[Raj_55555]

Awesome shots Sharon, Love the first one specially and a few even better ones in your flickr.. But when did you get a Tammy? :shock: I wonder what else I missed during my relative absence from TPF :meh:

 

[JustJazzie]

I love all of these!! Great work! And it sounds like a great day too!

 

[sm4him]

Thanks, everyone; I really appreciate the comments.

Well I checked my witty banter bin, naught left in it but dust.. lol.

But love these, the bath and in flight shots in particular

Well, THAT explains some of the posts I've seen from you lately…
Just kidding! ;-)

Nice work Sharon! Nice to see those juvi's zipping around! Another week or 2 and it will be the same thing up here...

Thanks, Kris! I agree, it's so much fun to see the juveniles flying around--they are so entertaining! But, a little sad too, because it means the time is drawing near when the Osprey will again take off for places more southern than TN. The older I get, the more I wish I could migrate with them for the winter...

Outstanding shots with superb detail.Great Job Sharon and nice to see you posting again.

Thanks, I really did enjoy the outing, and I think I'm coming out of the "funk" a little, but I suspect I will still not be getting out to shoot nearly as often as I used to. New priorities, I suppose. I do hope to eventually find a good balance between spending more time with those who matter to me, being there for them, and spending time doing the THINGS that I love. But for now, the relationships, the PEOPLE I love, trump the THINGS that I love to do.

Awesome shots Sharon, Love the first one specially and a few even better ones in your flickr.. But when did you get a Tammy? :shock: I wonder what else I missed during my relative absence from TPF :meh:

Thank you, Raj! I started to say "What?? I don't have a Tammy!" but then I realized what you had seen. I DO have a Tammy, but not THE Tammy. I still haven't made the plunge for the Tamron 150-600; I imagine I will at some point, but probably not until later in the fall--kind of waiting to finally ever settle the medical claim from the accident I had last fall and it's proceeding very slowly. I'm starting to think that claim may end up being my retirement fund at the rate we're going toward getting it settled.

I did, however, purchase A Tammy, a Tamron 70-200 f/2.8. I wanted a good portrait lens, besides my Sigma 50mm f/1.4, but just couldn't justify the Nikon one, given how much I expect to really use it. I have been really, really impressed with the Tammy lens. I actually even used a little bit on the recent Osprey outing, because they were so close to me, but I haven't posted any of those anywhere, at least not yet.

 

[robbins.photo]

Thanks, everyone; I really appreciate the comments.

Well I checked my witty banter bin, naught left in it but dust.. lol.

But love these, the bath and in flight shots in particular

Well, THAT explains some of the posts I've seen from you lately…
Just kidding! ;-)

Lol.. well, like granddad always said - Son, never hit a man when he's down. Kick him, it's a lot less work.

 

[IzzieK]

Sharon even if you clipped the wing of #3 I still think I like it very much...not think...silly me! (I am not capable of thinking today...bah!!!) I love #3 best as well as the rest. Just #3 seems to be it for me....I enjoy your enthusiasm for being a bird-o-grapher. I tried to capture a swallow for my course assignment but all I got are butt shots. Lucky you...

 

[Vince.1551]

Fabulous