The 2010 Osprey season heats up

Oh my..... 5 weeks!! Didn't remember it was that long! lol

Your season is just starting and ours are ending.They'll be leaving our area soon, boo hoo. The chicks are out of the nest, and practicing their balancing act. I seen one this afternoon, hanging on the side of the nest. The one in Gagetown was not on the nest, must of been out practicing, his skills. Those along the river near Fredericton, were empty too. Would have love, to have waited for their return to the nest, but had to come home, DH had to work tonight.

Margaret...have you climbed up to the nest yet and counted the eggs?

Nanny, the five weeks will fly by. Already it's day 12 (almost 13 here).

Burn, I'm so relieved our Ospreys don't migrate. I can't imagine what it must be like, waiting to see if the same ones return to a nest. We can rest comfortably knowing that the family don't stray far from home base and the juveniles are heard and seen up to three months before the parents begin a new season.

LOL, Rose. No, I haven't climbed the tree. One of the things that protects this nest is its inaccessibility.

Burd, if frequency was the criteria for the number of eggs laid, there'd be dozens of eggs in the nest. LOL.

Ospreys are renowned for bringing strange objects to the nest. This appeared a couple of days ago. I have absolutely no idea what it is. Maybe a piece of fibreglass. It sure doesn't look as if it's a natural material.

looks like a rock!

Hi Margaret, is there a coconut grove nearby? LOL, that looks like a section of a coconut hull to me. Ask a tropical woman, she knows. lol. I've been following the thread, I couldn't help but remembering 'Old Ma Osprey....Life indeed goes on.

Have you spotted Harmony on your trips? As spring begun there how cool is the weather now?

It looked like a rock to me, as well at first, but there's something odd about it. I didn't see it today as I was down on the low path and looking up at the nest rather than down into it. I'll take my binoculars next time I go and see if I can get a clearer idea of what it might be - if it's still there.

No, no coconut groves down this way, Lily_love. We're way not tropical enough to support them. Old Ma Osprey is frequently in my thoughts. The normality of last season really brought home just how unusual things were during that first season that I watched them. Regarding Harmony, the last time I am as certain as I could possibly be that I saw him/her, would have been back in June.

From this afternoon. Dad on the branch and Big Hook on the nest. She was really relaxed, as was he. Every now and again he made these really soft little sounds, so quiet that if you weren't "tuned in" to ospreys, you'd never know it came from one of them.

Dad having a scratch. I tried my new teleconverter which retains the autofocus for my 400mm lens. Hand held, but sitting and using my knees to steady my arms. This was from about 70'

And about to fly down to the nest for the changing of the guard.

Nice shots Margaret! The teleconverter seems to work better for the larger birds...it did nice a nice job on those shots. I think it has its limits though...but 70' looks good.

Margaret, that's interesting about the "strange objects", I had no idea they did this.
That new tc must be fun-congrats-what did you get? Your photos are so clear and sharp-awesome photography!

I love that last shot Margaret!

Dad scratching is a cute photo...that last shot is just down right awesome!

Margaret...those last shots using the TC are awesome...very well done! Interesting about the rock, maybe Dad is bringing presents home!

Very sharp photos indeed. Wouldn't that size of rock, be to heavy for an Osprey to carry to the nest?

Burd, it does have its limits. Even in the reasonably good lighting I had yesterday afternoon I had to increase the ISO to 500 to allow me to keep the shutter speed and aperture at a do-able level. I ordered the tripod head yesterday and already have the tripod, so I'll test it out when that arrives. I still have the Canon 1.4 converter if this one doesn't take good shots with the tripod set up.

Duc, the shots were a bit soft and I sharpened them in Elements. With the 400mm lens on its own, I rarely need to do that. The teleconverter hunts around quite a bit. I need to prefocus and then it works a little faster. I might try it out on the 70-200mm lens and see how it compares with the Canon tc.

Thanks Pelle. The more I watch these birds, the more fascinating they become.

Nanny, I included the shot of Dad scratching to show just how laid back these birds are about a human presence. I also took several practice shots of him dozing.

Rose, thanks, but Elements are what made them appear sharper than they really are. He's a very generous partner, always bringing the love of his life little gifts. Big Hook: "Darling, when I said I wanted a rock for our anniversary, that isn't exactly what I had in mind".

Burn, I don't know what it is, but I agree, it'd be a very heavy and unwieldy object for him to carry if it was a rock.

awww, so cute looking right at you!

Beautiful photo's Margaret. I enjoy these so much. Perhaps the mystery in the nest is a sand crab shell.
That would have been a wonderful meal for the "love birds".

Here is the link to the sand crab. The colors look similar to the object in the nest.
http://museumvictoria.com.au/crust/mov1657i.html

This message was edited Sep 4, 2010 1:00 AM

Mrs Ed, it is another example of just how at ease they are with people in the area, with exception; some people, they just don't seem to like.

BeaHive, I thought you may have hit the nail on the head with that, but the size is way out. It looks like the carapace is typically 100mm (10cm) across, to a maximum of 150mm (15cm). Whatever this thing in the nest is, is a lot bigger than that. But who know, maybe they grow larger around here.

Here's another shot from yesterday with the teleconverter on.

Wow..that's a great shot with the converter Margaret!! When you get more light, the converter and some manual settings should get a few more keeper shots...but your right the converter it likes to hunt too much for focus...with my experience so far...flight shots with the converter have produced only a couple sharp shots. But large sitting birds can come out ok...you just proved that. lol

Great shot Margaret!

Sea turtle shell is my next guess.Great shot!

Very nice, Maggie! Not only do they look content and at ease, they seem to be smiling!

I saw an ice cream shop called Maggie Moo's. I asked if they had any t-shirts and they didn't. They just opened...you never know, they may have some soon and you will have one shortly there after ;o))

Love all of the shots Margaret. Gosh, that TC works great. Love the scratching one and the "here's looking at ya" shot. Would have been fun to see him carry that object into the nest.

Excellent photography, Margaret. Nice results with the teleconverter. I just never get consistent good results with mine. I know most of my shots with a teleconverter are usually at a good distance. Perhaps I expect too much ? Best wishes with your new tripod head when you get it.

Thanks, Burd. I used Aperture Priority for a while recently, but didn't find it worked with the high contrast of these brown and white birds, so I've reverted to manual, which I much prefer. I might try some flight shots on another family of Ospreys in a nest only one a a half km from "our" nest, but close to where this newly discovered nest is. I'm not too optimistic about flight shots with the teleconverter attached. This "new" nest gives better chance of catching flight shots because it's more open.

Thanks, Pelle. Their behaviour is quite predictable on the branches and I could see he was going to fly down to relieve Big Hook on the nest, so I was able to prepare for the shot.

Thanks, BeaHive. A turtle shell is a possibility. I'll take my binoculars when I go there this afternoon and see if I can get a clearer look at it.

Kim, they are so contented at present. Everything is so unhurried. LOL on the T-shirt and how appropriate for it to be associated with an icecream shop.

Thanks, GG. It is fascinating watching them scratching with those great big talons. It's funny with Big Hook. Sometimes she'll make little sounds of consternation when I first arrive, so I'll take my sunglasses off and assure her it's me and she immediately settles down and shuts up.

Thanks, Linth. The main reason I purchased the teleconverter was to get closer shots of the chicks (optimistic regarding multiple hatchings this year) in the first couple of weeks. The 400mm just doesn't quite crack it from the high vantage point. The only alternative, and one I can't afford would be to get the 500mm lens, which not only has the extra reach, but retains the autofocus with the Canon teleconverter. I've ordered the Mongoose 3.6 head. It was a toss up between the Wimberley II and the Mongoose, but the Mongoose is 2lb lighter, which is a huge consideration for this weedy wimp.

It's a glorious spring day here today and I'll head off to the nest at about 3pm.

I forgot to take the binoculars, but focussed on this object, which doesn't appear the same as the one the other day, but who knows. To me, being able to zoom right in on it on the computer, it looks like a bicycle seat.

Maybe, they have already bought "Jr" a bicycle ;o))

Ha! Oh my word what will they bring in next?

The new photo from that angle does look like a bike seat. How funny,but sad. There is so much "garbage" in our oceans.

That bicycle seat is too funny! Perhaps they brought it for the babies to use a surf board?

Sure hope he doesn't bring home the remainder of the bicycle--they will need a larger nest.

Ospreys have a reputation for bringing an assortment of discarded junk to the nest. I really don't think that the bicycle seat is the same is that strange greenish shape from a few days ago.

Thanks, Al. It's good when you can anticipate what the birds are intending to do. Sometimes, I'm able to capture the movement, but at other times I mentally flog myself for lack of skill when I miss a good shot.

These are from yesterday, but I haven't had time to play around with them until now. When I got there yesterday, Big Hook was on the nest. After a while, Dad flew by a couple of times with a fish, almost as if he was showing off. He took it to his favourite branch and spent 45 minutes eating what he wanted of it and then brought the substantial left-overs to Big Hook. The take over took close on 15 seconds, with her pulling at the fish and trying to eat it whilst Dad tried to release his grip and maintain his balance.

As soon as he is able to give the fish to her, His eyes are on the section of the nest where the egg/s are and starts to make his way over there. Big Hook has eyes only for the fish.

a second later

She then flew off and went to Dad's branch to have a feed as he took over the sitting. After about 10 minutes she made her sounds typical of when she's going to fly and flew by the nest once, with the fish in her talons before returning to the branch to eat some more. . She spent about another 10 minutes eating and then brought the tail end back to the nest for Dad, who then took it back to the branch. Quite a bit of sharing. In this shot, that's Big Hook who has passed the fish to Dad, who prepares to leave.

which he does.

Excellent shots Margaret! I love this couple!

Oh, Pelle, so do I. I'm glad you enjoy hearing about them and seeing what they're up to.