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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.
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 Flickr2. 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 Flickr3. In for a landing
Dagnabit, I clipped the wing!!
Landing Gear Down by sm4him, on Flickr4. 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 Flickr5. 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 FlickrMore 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.
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