Whopper, the fledgling Osprey, spreads her wings.

We've come from here. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1141107/

Even though Whopper, as she has come to be known, fledged several days ago, today was the first time I'd seen her flying. She had been on a branch below the nest when I arrived and stayed there for at least an hour before eventually flying onto the right hand branch and then down onto the nest, awaiting either Dad or Big Hook to deliver a fish.

We'll see how long it is before she brings her own catch. Lets hope it's not a blowfish.

Big Hook was on the pole branch yesterday and I took the opportunity to capture a few shots of her. She was so close I had to hold the camera in the vertical position. This shot is cropped but shows her staring directly at me.

Really good news about the male Osprey which was found on the foreshore below the nest on the other side of the bay more than three weeks ago. He was successfully rehabilitated and the release took place on Friday morning. Here he is, seconds after release giving an accusing glance back to the rehabber who put her own life on hold to save his life.

His mate, who has been successfully rearing their two chicks during his absence, greeted him with great gusto. Hard to determine if she was pleased to see him or whether she was expressing her disgust at his absence. "You think you can just go off on a month's holiday, leaving me to rear those two brats and then come swanning back here, thinking everything will be OK? Harrummph"

I went back in the afternoon and spent a couple of hours watching their antics. She is the top bird in this shot - he looks a little sheepish. It was a fantastic sight to see. He was on deaths doorstep for a couple of days, so the rehabber has done an incredible job. Kudos to her.

The released male Osprey on Friday afternoon.

Great News Great Photos

Wonderful photos Margaret. I love the shot of Big Hook looking right at ya!

That is fabulous news on the male!! You do have to wonder what his mate was thinking.

So happy to see the released osprey has returned to the family. Many thanks to the rehabber that sacrificed so many hours on the bird. That look back shot is just priceless. Seems to me he was thanking her/him as he flew off.

That shot of Big Hook is awesome, but all of them are. Whopper looks so grown up and ready to take care of herself. I keep meaning to ask you if you've noticed one particular mark on her that you'll be able to identify her in the future?

well said duc.

Happy tears came to my eyes to see the good news, events that taken place in these majestic birds. Whooper is spreading her wings! Oh what's joy! Big Hook is a fine looking mama, and the cropped shot is out of this world!, Margaret. Terrific news with the rehabbed male Osprey, and I loved it to see the antics interaction upon his re-union with his mate.

If one likes to see miracles -- one must see the story in your thread. Thanks Margaret, happy Holidays everyone.

That is such great news about the male Osprey!!! Much applause for the rehabber!

Whopper is looking great!

Glad Whopper has venture out of the nest, and soon to become independent. Great news about the rehab Osprey, he looks great.
sending praise to the devoted rehabber.
Thanks you so much for this wonderful thread.

Wonderful work these rehabbers do. So glad that both osprey families are thriving.

Amazing stuff, Margaret. We are so fortunate to share what you see.

That is a great rehab story Margaret! I am always so proud of those people who do that work! I support a couple of wildlife rehab groups here in my area!

Great news that the chick has fledged. Also great news that the rehabbed osprey has been returned to the wild.

Sorry about the tardy response. I'm in catch up after having a couple of internet issues. Thanks for your comments and I'll certainly pass them on to the rehabber. I haven't been back to the area for three days but may be able to go there briefly this afternoon to see if I can see him. One of the local residents who has a birds eye view is maintaining a vigil.

I finally have the plate for the 500mm lens and will try it out on the tripod this afternoon. Fingers crossed that Whopper will be around the nest.

Here's another shot of the female partner of the released male. A bit distant, but headed directly for me. I love seeing the angle of the wings from a different perspective.

Nice catch!

What lens was this Margaret - hand held I guess? This morning I was wlaking the dog along the path just pass Scotch boat shed when I just happened to look out to the river and there was Big Hook (Ma) flying at about 10m above the river literally 10m from me! back to the nest with breakfast - round about 6.15 am. For those not familiar with the river it was quite 'rough' due to the strong easterly so obviously fishing not impacted by river roughness! I had eye contact as she flew by and like to think she recognized me!

Thanks, Pelle.

It's the 400mm, Pete and yes, hand held. I had to bump the ISO up to maintain a fast enough shutter speed to compensate for my wobbly arms. What a wonderful sight to have seen Big Hook flying by so close. I've thought about setting myself up along that track near the boatshed for the afternoon, just on the off chance that one of the ospreys might fly by.

I'm heading off to the other area of the bay where the male was released to see if I can see him and also see if he's going to the nest. Will give an update a little later.

Nice shots Margaret!! Nice story on the rehab. Great close-up of Big Hook! Really like the coming at you shot!

Thanks, Burd.

I spent almost two hours at the foreshore this afternoon. I could hear the chicks in the nest and after more than an hour an adult osprey flew from the nest and cruised around the area for a short time before heading off and returning to the with a fish and I could hear the sounds of the chicks being fed. It was the female. No sign or sound of the male. I'll try to go back for a short time in the morning to see if he's there.

The following are a week old now but thought I'd share anyway. They're from last Friday when I visited the nest. The first few are a series when Whopper got a bit miffed at the lack of space in the nest. She'd moved to the side to go to the toilet and then moved back and got quite aggressive! In the first photo you see Big Hook threatened by the youngster, with claw raised!

In the next photo Whopper gets air born! She actually came right over the top of mum who you can see stood her ground and flattened her wings on the nest. you can see bits of feather flying around.

Whoops forgot the photo here it is

This one isn't an Osprey but landed nearby and it's a favourite of mine - a Kookaburra. Not liked in Western Australia as it's not a native being from over 'east'. I love them and their laugh.

After Whopper saw mum off to the pole mum left for an hour to go fishing. She dropped the fish off alive and let Whopper apply the coup de grace and learn how to hold it down. Whopper ate and flew out to the branch and then mum returned to eat what was left. This provoked a strong reaction from Whopper - here she is threatening to return

Here is Whopper returning to the nest

And when she returned it was all harmony with mum happy to feed here. It was a big fish took half an hour of shared feeding!

Those are great pics Pete! Had to laugh at the "threatening to return" pic.

The Kookaburra is such a handsome and intelligent looking bird.

This message was edited Dec 17, 2010 7:04 AM

Nice photos is it Pete ?? I love the kookaburra,used to sing a song at camp Whitley as a kid ,laugh kookaburra laugh,don't remember all the words...just hard to believe how big whopper is

Oh here we go again, the bratty teenager stage! Great shots Pete, thanks for sharing.

Yep, teenagers! Can't live with them and can't push them out of the nest. lol Then all of a sudden they want to be little ones again and be fed! And like any good Mother, Big Hook did ;o)

Awesome photos Pete! Whopper is growing more beautiful every day. I love those Kookaburras too and your photo is superb!

Margaret, enjoy that new lens.

Fantastic action shots, Pete. Whopper sure is a confident bird, isn't she?

Thanks, duc. It should be an interesting experience. There's not way I could ever hand hold this lens and it's difficult getting used to using a tripod, particularly for flight shots. You'd need to have arms like Popeye the Sailor. I've got to train my mind to think of the tripod as an extension of my arms.

The female osprey over at the other nest where the male was released won't have a bar of him anywhere near the nest tree, let alone the nest itself. People who live close by, who were involved in his rescue and eventual release hadn't seen him for three days and were fearing the worst. However, they've seen him in another Norfolk Island Pine which is only 100 metres from the nest tree. I've been down there a few times, but haven't caught sight of him - yet. Let's hope that they can re-establish a pair bond when the chicks have fledged and have gained their independence.

This afternoon, there was no activity on "our" nest. Whopper was soaring up and down in the very strong wind. I only managed one shot of her in flight and I've had to sharpen it considerably to get it anywhere near decent.

I laugh every time I see this. She was looking directly at me and the wind was blowing her head feathers against the grain.

oH nice Margaret,I love the new doo, priceless

Wonderful shots Margaret! She is looking fantastic!