Growing in an Osprey's garden #5

Margaret-
Your thread, commentary and photographs are really inspiring.
The osprey's day to day life is being shown around the globe and
they don't have a clue of their celebrity status. Magnificent.
and welcome Denis to Dave's. Both of you are great photographers.

Thank you, Dirt. That's very kind of you.

Margaret, you always make my day,it is truly wonderful what you do ,and to share it . And becareful,I fell down the hill 2 weeks ago,slid in the mudd feet went out from under me, i landed on my left hand and behind,jammed my left shoulder,aarrggg,it feels like frozen shoulder syndrom again, Iam too old to fall down.Plus i got a mud bath,had to take off my clothes outside,DH was getting a good chuckle out of it,it was rather funny!!!! I will heal,I hope!!! LOL

sorry about your fall, one of my fears as I seem to fall hard. Margaret--congratulations on an HM for the osprey picture. the in flight photos of smaller birds were great as well, don't think that smaller birds sitting in a tree are as good, however they are nice to look at on the forum.

Yes Margaret, you know "you're not 16 anymore!"

Thank goodness for that, eh? Perish the thought!

^_^ Good morning everyone. Evening to you Margaret.

good evening Lily_love.

Gee, that "RAW" shot gives me the feeling that I'm standing right there at the nest. Breathtaking!

Margaret, don't you dare hurt yourself! We're all counting on seeing your pictures.

Denis, another beautiful photo!!

I have yet to grasp RAW in photography terms..

Being a little kind there aren't ya Mrs. Ed? ;0)

Margaret and Denis some truly inspiring shots and I regret having to be travelling right now on business and missing all the fun! By way of introduction to everyone else I've been photographing the ospreys for the past 3 years and regret taking so long to join this forum, although I feel I have an advantage as I know so many of you now through your participation. When I'm back in Perth I'll upload some of my favourites although I'm afraid we've all been spoilt by Margaret & Denis's wonderful captures. Keep me informed Margaret, this is the first time I've missed my 'second' family's off-spring potentially leaving home for the first time. Cheer loudly and I'll hear you in Bangalore!
Peter

Peter, welcome welcome! I'm looking forward to see more of your posting. Margaret, Denis and you! Ooooh, this thread will be most wonderful with all the contribution.

Welcome Peter! Looking forward to your photos.

Welcome to the Garden, Peter!

I also look forward to seeing your photo's. We can never have too many photographs of nature and all it's beauty! The Osprey's have become a daily obsession with some of us so please do share your photo's here.

hmm ... I think we need a general thread on this site where folks could share their scenic photo's of gardens and oceans and forests and plants etc. too.

Peter, at long last. Welcome! I really look forward to seeing some of your shots of the ospreys other than on the little LCD screen on the camera.

I went to the nest yesterday afternoon. This is what I was greeted by. The chick eagerly taking a headless fish from the male, who still has the fish in his left talons. At this stage there was no sign of Big Hook.

I hadn't had time to check my settings or anything. I just managed a few quick shots before the male flew off.

"It's mine! All mine".

Even as a young chick, an osprey's meal is a very unhurried event.

Harmony was momentarily distracted by something going on in the sky above.

What it was looking at were two males flying in the strong south-westerly breeze.

They were flying around for well over two hours, just soaring back and forth in formation. No aggressive gestures and there was no sound audible from where I was sitting.

How cute ... baby feeding himself for the very first time!

Lovely photo of Harmony gazing skyward!

Hi Lin. Thanks. Madam X had seen it feeding itself the day before yesterday (Friday) as well.

Giving a call skywards.

Eventually the chick got to the tail and the fun began. It tried so hard to swallow that tail, but was having considerable difficulty.

It danced all over the nest with that tail, dropping it, picking it up and periodically staring down at it on the floor of the nest, screaming at it.

A really good look.

After it had eventually finished its meal, it did several bursts of exercising its wings, making sounds of delight as it did so.

This message was edited Nov 22, 2009 11:25 AM

Good to see her feeding herself, Margaret....Love the pic "it's mine, all mine!"....and the way you describe her feast.

Thanks GP. After last season, I thought it couldn't hold the same fascination, but in fact this is more rewarding because of everything progressing so normally.

I've been aware that it has actually lifted off the nest floor before, but this was the first time I've been able to see its feet. Pete, I can hear you groaning. Maybe it will wait until your return before it fledges.

Oh how funny with that Tail!

Welcome Peter. Nice that the Trio is complete now. And the nice thing is that you'll get to monitor the progress via Margaret and Denis while you're away.

That's funny, I like your description, to it's reaction to the tail.
It will be interesting to hear some of your observation and see some of your photos Peter.

edited

This message was edited Nov 21, 2009 10:05 PM

Whew! For a minute it looked as if the tail was stuck in Harmony's mouth!

Love the shot with Harmony giving a call skywards ... maybe hollering for mama and papa to come home!

Thanks, Burn.

Lin, it was probably more along the lines of "stay away from my fish".

We've all noticed that this chick hasn't reacted to airplanes or yachts by hunkering down. Today was an exception when the big, scary, yellow rescue helicopter flew directly overhead.

Last one for now. Making sure that big, noisy yellow bird was leaving.

Big Hook returned with a headless fish just as the shadow was almost covering the nest. The chick wasn't the least bit interested in eating, but reluctantly accepted the morsels Big Hook proffered.

Beautiful shots ... all of them! That last one makes me wonder what is going through Harmony's mind, seeing that huge bright yellow helicopter in the sky ... probably wondering what in the world type of bird that big yellow thing is!

Well, I have to get off this computer and finish packing. I have an early morning flight to visit my youngest sister in North Georgia. My husband has to take me to the airport at 6 O'clock in the morning and I'm nowhere near finished with my packing!

Have a great day!

Have a safe trip Lin.

I just found this thread. WOW, Margaret and Denis. Those are some amazing photos.

Hack

Hi Hack, I'm glad you found it.

Wonderful shots Margaret! Harmony is so beautiful!

Thanks pelle. It is a gorgeous bird.

This afternoon I was only at the nest for an hour and a half and during the entire time I was there, two males, one of whom was presumably Dad, were soaring back and forwards, up and down the bay and even over to the other side of the bay and out of sight, only to reappear a minute later, heading back towards the general area.

Big Hook was on the nest when I first got there, but vacated it for the pole branch shortly afterwards. She had a feather stuck to her beak.