Tuesday, April 9, 2013

OSPREY!


These are doubtless the worst photos I've ever posted…but they're all I managed of an osprey feeding earlier this morning.

I was working at the desk when movement along the river caught my eye. I glanced out the window and saw a large white, gray, tan bird plummet into the water. At first I thought it was a Canada goose, as the geese have been flapping up and downstream since daylight. But even as that thought crossed my mind, I knew whatever it was wasn't a goose, since it was pitching at rather than falling into or merely settling onto the surface. I began grabbing for the camera I always keep on the desk's corner…already turned on, set at a high ISO and fast shutter, awaiting whatever "snatch-and-snap" opportunity might come along.

From sighting to shooting maybe took three seconds—and that includes manual focusing.

The osprey plunged into the water with a great splash about forty feet upstream of the stretch you see in the top image. Then, wings outstretched, it floated downstream on the current until just before reaching the point visible in the second image—where it lifted up and off the surface, flew low for maybe a hundred feet farther downstream, rose higher, and flew out of view around the end of the island.

In case you're wondering, I'm pretty sure the fish the bird's holding is a white sucker in spawning colors.


The third shot—the very worst!—is actually the first of the series, included only because it sorta shows the bird's head—that is if you squint and can somehow make anything out among those blurred pixels. Which isn't easy, alas! Not only are these ISO 1800 shots, made in a hurry, but they're also only a very small cropped portion of the actual image. Perhaps an expert Photoshop manipulator could pull a lot more from such lousy material; at best, I'm, a PS Elements duffer.  

12 comments:

Carolyn H said...

Very cool! It's not often I see a photo of an osprey in mid-catch. I see lots of photos of them carrying a fish but not many of them actually catching a fish. Nice one!

giggles said...

wow. Wow. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grizz………… said...

Carolyn…

I do wish I'd have had a few seconds to prepare myself, rather than gape/grab/gun.

What got me was watching that bird float such a long ways downstream—presumably with the fish already clutched underwater in its talons—wings outspread like outriggers, head and tail and opened wings all flat on the surface like a spent mayfly. At first I though the bird had stunned itself, maybe even broken it neck. It didn't flop or move, just let the current carry it along. I was quite relieved when it struggled into the air and flew off with its fish. I've watched countless osprey fishing over the years, but have never witnessed such a scenario.

Grizz………… said...

Giggles…

That's kinda what I said afterwards: WOW!

Gail said...

HI GRIZZ - nature capture in'real-time'. Nothin' better, WOW indeed!
Love Gail
peace....

Carolyn H said...

Grizz: I've seen ospreys do that floating thing, too, when they catch fish. I don't know if they are catching their breath or securing their hold on the fish or what. Just when you think they are going to sink and are done for, up they go.

Grizz………… said...

Gail…

Captured in real-time, for sure…just not captured real good. But the osprey was neat! :-)

Grizz………… said...

Carolyn…

I've watched ospreys feed I don't know how many times—hundreds, probably, given that I used to spend upwards of 300 days per year on or around water, everywhere from the Keys to Canada—but a 40-50 foot float is a first. At least I think I'd remember such an event…I'm not yet to the point of being able to hide my own Easter eggs. (Of course, maybe I wouldn't be able to tell, huh?)

Sure was something to see.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Any photo of an osprey is a bonus Grizz and to see it from your study window makes you alucky man indeed.
We have osprey here in the UK in Summer - mainly on the Scottish lochs but some in England too - and they often pass through here on their way to their nesting site. Such a dramatic bird. Lucky you.

Debbie said...

Hey, thanks for your quick reaction and introducing me to this wondrous raptor! Wow! After reading your post I did some research to find more and I hope you won't mind me including this Youtube video link with an outstanding testimony to God's design of this amazing creature. Hope you have time to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA3LtXnNIto

Debbie

Grizz………… said...

Weaver…

One of my field guides calls them a "cosmopolitan" species, seeing as how ospreys appear on every continent except Antartica. They're also "monotypic" meaning the species group consist of just the one species. And they are truly magnificent birds of prey.

You're right, too. As poor as my images were, I was lucky to get anything. And who knows, if the osprey hangs around awhile, I may have a chance at making a better shot.

Grizz………… said...

Debbie…

Thank you. Frankly, I was amazed I even managed these barely usable shots, given how fast things occurred, the distance, light, intervening trees, etc.—not to mention my overall astonishment.

While I always keep my switched-on Nikon with attached tel-zoom on the desk inches from the keyboard, in case a bird or critter comes into view—that typically means in one of the trees around the various feeders, or bedded flowers come summer—all within the range of a few yards of the window. I seldom expect or try shooting things 80 yards away. At the very least, I need to wash my window!

Hey, the YouTube link is fine—I know you wouldn't put up anything unsuitable—but when I tried it, it didn't work…at least not for me from my Mac. Nor can I access it directly from within YouTube. And I can't tell—doubtless because of my technological illiteracy—whether any of the other listed osprey videos are copies, otherwise I'd have listed an alternative.