Growing in an Osprey's Garden #8

Awesome photos Margaret. Harmony sure has picked up the "look" from the parents. What a wonderful feeling you must have each day when you're on your way home.

Early this morning when I was out on the deck filling the nut feeder, two large flocks (murders) of crows flew close to my head not once but twice and I could hear all their wings in the wind. Made me wonder how many people have missed the beautiful sounds of nature around them.

Spectacular photos Margaret and Pete. Has that nest ever produced more than one fledgling ? If and when that happens, it will sure keep all of you busy. 2 or 3 years ago, one of our local nests had three young to raise. Activity sure picks up.

Wow, what great photos! I guess we need to make a picture poster of good fish and bad fish and hang it in front of the nest ;o))

Thanks again for your comments. It sure was a relief to see Harmony had dropped the fish.

Good information on the Blowfish/Pufferfish, Lin.

Linth, the season before last there were two chicks and Pete was observing them then. I think Denis was as well. Pete may be able to describe what he saw that year. I know that Old Ma Osprey mothered that brood. Madame X has been watching the nest for more than ten years and has seen at least one brood of three chicks. Last year two chicks hatched, but one vanished just inside a week.

duc, are you handholding your 7D? If you are what lens are you using? I had a hbit of a play around with a 7D and although it is heavier than my 40D, I still think I'd be able to hand hold it, but would probably hire one for a day to satisfy myself that it's do-able.

I'll be heading off to the nest in another hour, so I hope to have an update later this mevening.

Things are so tranquil at the nest that there's very little to report. I saw all three birds. Big Hook was on Dad's branch, Dad was eating a fish on Harmony's branch and Harmony had a partially eaten fish that she flew from the nest with to some obscure spot where I could no longer see it. This 97 day old juvenile sure has its mother's honker.

Here's father.

After Dad finished his fish, he proceeded with the ritual beak cleaning. The birds obviously really enjoy the sensation of rubbing their beaks against the tree branches. Osprey tongues always look so human.

Off in a world of his own.

Wow, three months and a week old- Harmony! Beautiful youngster that took after its Mum. Here is to wish the family a safe, happy and healthy New Year. Best wishes to you Margaret, Pete, and Denis and all of the Ospreys' fans here at home in the US. Happy New Year everyone.

Oh Lily_love, thank you so much from all of us. Health and contentment to all in 2010.

I'll say Happy New Year too. To answer your question Margaret, yes, I'm handholding the 7D and I'm using my 70-300mm lens, sometimes with the 1.4 teleconverter. I love the larger body of the camera because I have long fingers and it seems easier to hold. It is heavier, but not too much that I'd be uncomfortable carrying it on a bird walk. I'm working my way through all the instructions for the different settings, but someone with your camera experience should be able to really make it work quickly.

Your photos are already perfect to me and I can't imagine them being any clearer.

Happy New Year to the folks in Australia!!

I've been away from Dave's, and I'm so glad I'm back! I spent the better part of today reading and viewing the story of Harmony, and there's nothing else I'd rather have done today. I know you're working on a book, Margaret, but a domentary would be astonishing. This story has everything - anticipation of the chick's hatching, Big Hook's gentle care of her chick, Dad soaring with the ospreys, excitement of Harmony's fledge, relief of Harmony's return to the nest, her first catch, and her first plunge.

Absolutely gorgeous photos. Pete's contributions are spectacular! I've enjoyed the threads and everyones' comments! Happy New Year to you all. May 2010 be your best birding year ever!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL,NEAR AND FAR HAVE A BLESSED 2010

Well folks thanks for all your kind words and shared enthusiasm, it's a real privelage to be able to share some of these images with you. For me personally it's been a real treat to catch up with Margaret over the past few months to follow the progress of the ospreys. A big thank-you to my wife Sarah who gives me more latitude and encouragement than I deserve and is always there to encourage me to pursue my passion. She refers to the birds as my other family! We always check in the morning at around 6.00 am when walking the dog and up-to now Harmony is normally present on the nest. Here's to another successful season in 2010 - I'm really hoping for twins or triplets! I've just gone over some recent photos and thought I'd put a few oldies on I've been meaning to. The first two are from the 14th November - I think it was the first hot day of summer and the WE before I was due to depart to India for about 3 weeks. The birds really put on a show and Big Hook had obviously been in the water and was trying to get dry quickly - I just love the wet look, reminds me of our labradoodle when she's had a bath.

Here's another wet tee shirt look. She's a little drier & I think by now she knew how to play to the camera! I certainly filled my card up quicker than normal - think she likes the sound of the shutter!

Absolutly love the 1st photo,Thank you and margaret,and Pete,for sharing your wonderful photos,I live through your photos and only dream of taking such beautiful ones myself. Happy New Year. Tamara

The next shot was from the next day (see what a good woman I married). I think on this day Margaret left a little earlier than me and given it was my last opportunity for a while to see the birds I stayed on. Mum was again active and even though the nest was by now in full shadow and exposure tricky I hung around. Well mum landed on a branch next to me and made a right carry on. Normally I like to shoot at high shutter speed for obvious reasons but this time decided to slow things down, concentrate on the 'eye' and hope to create some blur on the wing tips. The bird was probably only 10 m away or so at this time. The time was 6.40 pm on a Sunday evening (you get it by now, my wife is an angel) & the shutter speed was 1/250 at F5.6 (400mm lens). I think this has to be one of my favourites from the current season.

We now jump forward a month - can't believe how much happened in this time. I was overseas in Bangalore, India, and followed the drama of Harmony fledging so it was good to be back at last and to see the birds all safe at 'home'. The following two photos are from the 16th Dec (yeah I figured I was owed a few hours so left work early - reminded me of sneaking out to play all those years ago!). The first is mum returning to the 'home' in beautiful late afternoon sunshine without supper - the 'child' wasn't happy.

Mum and sibling basically took it in turns to take off and return to the nest. Note the young one - especially in last photo - still has the tell tale orange eyes. In this photo you can see mum's chest is a lot more marked than Harmony which leads me to suspect Harmony is a boy, that and the fact he is supportive, cleans up the home and never argues with mum, just like my 8 year old son Harry (not!).

The next is a photo from the 19th - a pesky willy wagtail giving Harmony a right going over. Harmony was not happy and at one stage took off at the wagtail, first time I'd observed from any of the ospreys a bit of aggression.

Finally some photos from today. We actually saw the whole family today, ma, pa and Harmony. the birds typically hang out in trees about 50 m from the nest which is very exposed. I assume it's cooler - typically by 6.00 pm Harmony is either on a branch of the tree the nest is in or on the nest. I think she's looking for or hoping for a meal; in spite of catching the blow fish we don't believe she's caught anything substantial; more on this later. For the first hour or so Margaret and I scrambled up steep embankments to get photos of ma and pa. Ma was a bit vocal, we got quite close and between us I guess got some great 'portrait' shots - here's one of them.

After these shots mum took off so we back peddled to take piccies of dad. At this time Harmony appeared and I think she was keen to land in a tree close to us but was probably put off by our presence so instead went over to the nest and landed on a low branch of the tree. I decided to make my way over to a position close to the waters edge where I could look up at her and also have an unhindered view of the bay to see if I could spot ma or pa returning. I could then call to Margaret who was by now back in her no 1 position above the nest. Well after 5 mins Harmony plunged from the branch and hovered over the water in front of me - I really though she was going to get a fish, but to my disappointment she turned serenely and flew off up the bay. I decided to stay and watch - in fact i tracked the 'dot' to practice my panning even though she was a 100 m away or so; she was very low almost skimming the water. well to my amazement she turned around and headed into the water. I clicked a couple of shots which I didn't hold out to much hope for; but I've really cropped them and decided to post them to demonstrate that Harmony is really growing up fast and appears to be desperate to earn her 'wings' and ma and pa's approval. I don't think she was after a fish this time, she was to low I think to spot one, I reckon she was practicing. In the first shot you can see she's touched the water - see the droplets. In the second she's clearly got her legs in the water, but not her body. Apologies for the shot quality, Harmony was at least a 100m away and to be honest I'm staggered I was able to recover something from the images.

Whoops got the photos the wrong way around - above photo is actually the frame after this one!

Well everyone hope 2010 is a good one for you all - only wish we could get to meet some of you some time in the future. I'd love to take two weeks off and shoot some of the Bald Eagles so any info on location and best time much appreciated. Take care and we'll hopefully keep the photos coming.
Pete

Happy New Year!

Welcome back OPBirder. I'm so glad you've been able to catch up with what's been going on and to enjoy Pete's and Denis' shots. It's so much better with others adding to the story of this beautiful little (or not so little) birds life.

Pete, fantastic shots of Big Hook. She really was saturated. I've just seen the shots from this afternoon. Wowee!! Well done on capturing Harmony taking a dunk.

This afternoon Big Hook and Dad were in different trees. Pete and I got ourselves into position to photograph Big Hook in particular, as she was only 30 feet away, although way above our heads. She carried on a bit when we scrambled and slid along the crumbling track, but settled quickly and we both managed to get some head and shoulder shots. She was too close to get entirely in the frame and there were branches in the way anyway.

Here's Big Hook watching as Pete sets himself up.

Happy New Year to you and Harmony and all the family, Margaret!

Because she was so close, the eye behind the nictitating membrane should quite clear in this shot. On my computer screen, the vessels within the membrane itself are very apparent, although probably won't show up with the resizing.

Thanks GP and to you and your Painted Buntings (that you insist on keeping all to yourself).

Big Hook gazing at something towards the end of the bay - possibly Harmony.

I think this was a yawn.

Dad was on his usual branch. It's interesting being able to access terrain that isn't normally accessible. Everything is so dry and wilted; what is covered in thick vegetation during winter is currently exposed. For the reckless (or obsessed), the dry, crumbling embankment is a great photo shoot opportunity.

Harmony was probably put off landing on what has become a favoured branch, because of our presence, as Pete has explained. It's amazing just how much the perspective alters as your own position changes. I went up to my usual spot whilst Pete went waaaaay down by the river. Harmony arrived on the nest sounded as if it was expecting a food parcel by the way it was carrying on. This didn't happen whilst we were still there. This is not a particularly good shot, but I do like the shadow of Harmony's legs and feet as it leaves the nest.

Pete, thanks to you for all your spectacular photos and thanks to your wife for allowing you so much time with that camera.

Margaret, even that last photo which you "didn't particularly like" is beautiful to me! Wow, I love them all.

Nice ones Pete & Margaret. It is nice to get a different view and behaviors besides the great perched shots. I like your last photo Margaret!

Beautiful shots Margaret!

Margaret & Pete:

Spectacular shots! It's been wonderful being able to follow the story of this Osprey family. I hope you both take care and stay safe while scrambling around that terrain! Thank you both so much for sharing photo's of these beautiful birds. Do you ever print and frame any of these wonderful photograph's? I know nothing about photography but I do recognize great photo's when I see them. It would be wonderful to have some of your photo's for sale on the DG Marketplace: http://davesgarden.com/products/market/

Wishing everyone Health, Happiness and Many Blessings in this New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone Down Under. What a year ..... and just think, you can do it all over again this year. Margaret, Pete and Denis, your photos are in a league all to their own.

Such wonderful pictures!

Thank you all, once again.

Linth, you're right about being able to do it all again next season. At the nest this afternoon, I was thinking that even though things have quietened down at the moment and there isn't much activity, it will only be another 4 or 5 months until (hopefully) Dad and Big Hook will start to re-establish their claim to the nest. At the end of last season, after Old Ma was no longer around, it was less than 4 weeks before Dad and Big Hook started bonding. I'll be in a better position this year to be able to go to the nest during winter to capture the courtship.

Nanny, because of the terrain the the number of trees in the area, the in flight shots are really difficult to get. Typically there is about one second's warning that a bird is going to emerge from behind a tree to land, either on the nest itself, on one of the nest tree branches, or on the pole branch. I think that it's because we wait for so long for any sign of activity, that we'll gladly click away when a static osprey so much as blinks. LOL.

Lin, I tend not to print images. I'll do so to give to friends, but I don't even have my printer set up any longer. I was given a gift to have a print, or even a several prints done professionally and to then have them framed. I'm still trying to decide which images to use. I think one of the ones of Old Ma and Aussie from last season will be what I choose. I struggled with the choice for a good long while, because it still stirs up some pretty intense emotions when I look at some of those shots, but what happened with Old Ma, Aussie and Dad is the essence of what I'm writing about, so I am now almost comfortable enough to do so without feeling voyeuristic.

I didn't go to the nest the last two days because of the heat, but managed a couple of hours there this afternoon. Harmony spent a lot of time dozing and yawning, but as usual, when the nest was in dappled shadow, Big Hook brought a headless fish. Just three shots which show Harmony's enthusiasm at receiving a meal.