Growing in an Osprey's Garden #8

We've come from here. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1061470/#top

Pete sighted Harmony in a different tree to usual this afternoon. Pete, his wife and I went scrambling down the embankment to have a closer look. It wasn't until I downloaded the photos that I saw that Harmony had obviously been in the water. It wasn't the least bit perturbed by our presence and we remain convinced that these birds quickly get to recognize the regulars. Not surprising, really, when you consider the sophistication of their eyesight and their awareness of their environment.

In this shot, Harmony was actually so close it couldn't be fitted into the frame and we had to move back several times before the entire bird could be captured in the viewfinder.

Harmony is looking at Pete as he gracefully manoeuvres into another position.

Harmony had obviously "taken the plunge".

I returned to the usual viewing spot as the light was not good where Harmony was and soon saw another "first" although I'm certain it wouldn't be the first time it's occurred: a juvenile Australian Raven landed on the left hand branch, and after assuring itself that it was safe to do so, flew over to the right hand branch, having spotted something that it wanted in the nest.

Cautiously making its way down the branch.

It quickly grabbed what it was after

and was off with its prize find.

Yummm. A bit of old, dried fish.

Here's a shot of Harmony looking at Pete's wife.

What a great shot of Harmony, Margaret.
Really is a pretty osprey, getting grown up quickly.
And from the previous page toward the end- the picture of the two of them in the nest in
the light is award winning.
Thank you for your perseverance and willingness
to share their story with us.

Thank you, dirt. We regulars are so aware of our incredible good fortune in being able to view this family of ospreys at such close range and on an ongoing basis, that it would be a real shame not to share it.

Margaret, What wonderful closeup pictures of the Osprey. They are gone from here now, down to your area. Thanks for taking the time and sending along the photos.

Donna

Thanks Donna. Good to see you.

Great pics of Harmony! She is looking wonderful. Thanks for scrambling down and up the embankment for them!

So totally awesome to be able to get that close....I am sooooo jealous Margaret!

Pelle, apart from Harmony's occasional bit of attitude and the drama surrounding its fall from the nest, the normality of their life is at such variance with what I saw last year, it's sometimes hard to believe I'm watching the same species.

Nanny, you may not be so jealous if you saw the terrain, which has a habit of biting, in more ways than one. Just ask Pete.

Here's a shot when Harmony was a tiny wee chick, only 9 days old. It is now 93 days old.

Hi everyone. Finally back from India and enjoying seeing the birds progress. this is Big Hook doing a balancing act on christmas eve like all mothers!

Here's Harmony leaving the nest on Christmas eve; she was quite feisty, we assumed hungry! She was giving her mother quite a hard time. She's extremely confident in the air now.

Another shot of Harmony coming right at me on Christmas eve. Shot against a very bright background so had to play around a bit to capture some detail. really thought she was looking directly at me! I think at this moment she flew at mum on the pole and tried to knock her off (playfully!) - 'I'm hungry, where's my salmon!"

Here's mum on a very hot afternoon drying off. Check all he bits of feather flying off of her as she shakes her-self.

A final one for now - one of my favourite poses and lovely lighting on one of the wings. She's really a 'big' bird, dwarfs Harmony, but very gentle with her offspring and appears to pander to her every whim (sound familiar). All the best to everyone and hope Xmas was good for everyone. Did anyone experience snow?! Ours was hot - 36 degrees.

Speaking of things being knocked off their perches, Pete, you'd better guard your spot on the embankment if shots like that one of Harmony coming directly at you are what you get. That is fantastic.

Great shots Pete!

fabulous shots Pete,We had 40- F melting what snow we had,Christmas eve was exciting freezing rain super slick everything,for about 4-5hrs,temps came up TG,by1:00pm everybody was on the move again !!!! We have alight covering of snow again as of last nite.

Beautiful photos and beautiful story of a beautiful family. Thanks for sharing with us Margaret and Pete...just awesome!!

Pete, your photos are so beautiful.

Margaret, I can't believe Harmony is getting so old. Your close-up is gorgeous.

It's so hard to believe that cute little chick of 93 days ago is the more adult looking and beautiful Harmony of today ... my they grow up so fast!

Beautiful photo's Pete. Love the one of Big Hook shaking after her dip and that very last shot is absolutely wonderful!

Weather here in my part of Florida has been strange. It was 80ºF on Christmas day, and the past two days have been in the low 60's ... tomorrow night is supposed to be 38º! Brrr ...

Lovely pictures from both of you. That Harmony is a very beautiful bird! Wow 36C in Perth...not nearly that warm here. Margaret, do you remember telling you that we would either have severe storms or ice/snow? We had the severe thunderstorms and flooding on Christmas Eve and sleet Christmas morning. Mother Nature cannot make up her mind when it comes to the weather in our state! lol

Thanks folks. Kim, I do recall you telling me about the weather you were expecting. Perth today is expecting a really hot one of 40C (104F) and 38C (just over 100F) tomorrow, so unless we get a sea breeze this afternoon, I don't think anyone will be going to the nest for the next couple of days, not even the ospreys.

Here's a shot of Harmony just as she landed on the nest yesterday afternoon.

The Willie Wagtails have two babies. I took some shots of one of them yesterday as the adult danced around me. It wasn't scolding me, though, so I don't think it was too worried about my presence.

Lovely shot of Harmony ... she sure is a beautiful Osprey. And, what a magnificent shot of the baby Wagtail, what a cutie! It's great to see close ups and the expressive faces!

The weather cooled down a bit this afternoon, but also became very cloudy. However, I'm glad I went to the nest as Harmony was sitting proudly on a branch with a fish that it had caught. I sure that it had caught it and it hadn't been brought to it by either Dad or Big Hook. It was a blowfish, the same as Aussie caught on what I assume was one of her first attempts to fish last season. These fish are toxic and I was glad to see that Harmony was clearly not enjoying it, but was, however, very possessive when a raven tried to steal it.

The raven was persistent in its efforts to take Harmony's prize from it, but Harmony was having none of that and warned the raven off each time it came near. These fish aren't very big, but are the bane of fishermen all over Australia. They'll even give you a good nip when you're swimming.

The raven went onto a branch above Harmony, who kept a very close watch. These fish are appropriately named "Blowfish" as they defensively puff themselves up with air when caught.

I had to push the ISO right up to between 1000 & 1600 because it was so gloomy, so these shots have been lightened a bit. In this shot, an annoyed Harmony lunges towards the raven. If you look hard, you may be able to see some black at the right edge of the photo as the raven ducks out of the way.

"Go away. This is MY fish"!

The terrain is such that with a telephoto lens I couldn't get both birds in the frame. Even getting the shots I did of harmony involved some pretty impressive gymnastics.

I think Harmony ended up dropping its catch, even though I didn't see it. In this shot, it looks puzzled as it gazes at its rather oversized, but now empty feet. It flew to the nest after this shot was taken and I couldn't see the fish on the nest or any evidence of Harmony looking at it, which was a relief.

Great shots Margaret! Harmony looks wonderful and that baby Wagtail is adorable!

Whew! It was a relief for me too Margaret to see that Harmony lost the blowfish during the encoubter with the ravens. Pete, love your pictures too.
What does it take to teach young Harmony that the blowfish isn't a good shusi! :(

Great photo's Margaret!

It's good to see Harmony so protective of her catch but great that she ended up dropping that fish! I can see the tail end of that Raven scrambling to get out of the way of Harmony's beak! It's a good thing neither of them ate that fish.

We have a couple of the Pufferfish/Blowfish types: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraodontidae here in Florida too and I remember a few years ago some people got very sick from eating them: http://www.mrcirl.org/marker/marker1702/0101.html I've also heard of divers down in the Florida Keys being bitten by those things but don't know if any human deaths have been attributed to these fish. I know some folks like to keep them in their aquariums but I sure wouldn't want one in ours. There was concern a few years back in a county just south of us that some dolphin deaths were atrributed to toxins from these fish: http://www.mrcirl.org/marker/marker1702/0101.html