Osprey Pushed Off Nest!
This is the time of year when many of this season's young Osprey are faced with the difficult decision to take that first flight. In August, 2006, I chanced upon such a decisive moment and have included below my notes I had written at the time, along with photos of the action that I was fortunate enough to photograph.
August 23, 2006:
"We had come across an Osprey nest beside a secondary highway and were able to take some action pictures of one Osprey pushing another off the nest. We quickly concluded that the Osprey on the right was having a difficult time deciding to fly. First it would lift its wings, then put them down again. It would peer over the edge, then move its feet up and down, then settle down into a crouch again. It did not want to leave! All this time the Osprey to the left , and another that we could see in a tree nearby, were constantly calling and making a continual racket. This noisy encouragement went on for quite a while but the Osprey on the right just couldn't seem to make the decision to fly..... when suddenly the Osprey on the left rushed over and pushed the indecisive bird off the edge of the nest! "
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The following photos tell the rest of the story.
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The following photos tell the rest of the story.
25 comments:
This is one of the most amazing series of pictures I have seen. How do you manage to be present at these events? And how do you have the skill to capture them? Marvelous pictures!
bobbie:
This is a location where we sometimes stop as its gives a good view from the shoulder of the road while we just sit in our car. On this day we had no idea of what would follow and could not believe our luck to have been watching when this action began! Glad that you enjoyed.
That's great! I was actually laughing at the sequence. I could almost hear that reluctant bird as it went over the edge saying "No...no..Help...help...oh, my gosh...wow...hey, this is neat!..I can fly!! What a beautiful series of photos! They are terrific looking birds and your shots show the action so well.
I thought your sky watch was amazing - this one is equally incredible. How fortunate you had your camera and were able to capture the story to share!
You have an amazing trigger finger; what a matchless series of shots! I too was imagining some dialogue, only from the other bird..."Oh for pity sake, stop dilly-dallying and just DO it; you're a BIRD!"
mary:
The other Osprey certainly had lots to say with lots of verbal advice directed towards it.
kahshe:
My camera: I never leave home without it, even if it is my small fixed lens Sony in my purse.
deborah:
Exactly!! It was really quite a decision making task and the poor inexperienced one just couldn't seem to take the initiative on its own. It was almost as if we could read its mind while it was "dilly-dallying". It definitely was had a surprise ending. :-)
Oh my gosh you are so lucky to have wittnessed this and we are so lucky you shared it with us. I love the ospreys.
These are impressive. I wish I could have gotten that close to the ospreys in NC! Thanks for the experience.
Oh Wow! That is something else! Most excellent and giving you a double dip in my Goldstar jar!
Blown away!
Cheers, Klaus
Great series and nice pics.
You really are a good photographer. The osprey birds are really fascinating to watch. And the SWF pictures on the post below are magnificent. Love them.
Thank you for shareing!
How fortunate you were to be there at just the right moment! Great sequence!
Wow Ann..to be there with a camera to see that and then be able to share it..Thank you
This is truly an amazing series of pics. You really captured something here and it's...it's...Awwwww-sum!! :-)
Gold medal photography. Thanks for sharing. It was truly inspiring.
Love those photos..also the skywatch..esp the first..reminds me of a part of our sky in Australia this week! Thank you
Annie
Absolutely incredible!
These are incredible photos! Wow! I had to show them to my husband.
Oops! Great shots, it's almost like a movie clip. I actually just saw an osprey yesterday, so I am hoping to find the nest next weekend.
Was that the same young as in other sequence? Wow--don't you love being ready at just the perfect moment!?
nina:
No, the Osprey in those posts were separated by about 10 kilometers and 2 years. And yes, I am totally thrilled when I come upon something as exciting as this event was! The timing was totally in the hands of luck.
wow what a catch. great photos
What a great moment to capture! Just catching up on your blog as I haven't been blogging for a while.
Great series of photos!
I've featured this cool post on my Zen Nature Lessons for last month at http://wildbirdsunlimited.typepad.com/the_zen_birdfeeder/2008/09/zen-nature-lessons.html
Thanks much and nice job.
great capture!
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