Thanks so much Sparrow, I have a lot more . it was the most incredible experience so far in my birdwatching "career"....just didn't think anyone was really interested in seabirds so couldn't be bothered doing a big post LOL
Can anyone tell me if this is a male or female Osprey? It was fishing to feed its chick which was sitting close by ( hardly a tiny chick that is for sure) the bird in the last photo of the first lot is the chick. The calls were amazing and the experience left me speechless, which doesn't happen very often :')
Every shot a winner,don't you hate it when you get home and find the shot of the day is out of frame,no matter how good the others are and there all good, you'll keep looking at that one photo and saying if only!
Hi Birdie They are awesome shots, the dark neckband tells us that that is the female.the male would have a much lighter neck, possibly all white. Again great shots.
Ha ha .... yes that is true. But I have half a gig of shots on my computer that are all amazing so I can't really complain. I had gone down there on the off chance that they may be around, and had been in the trees looking for wrens that I could hear. I was actually on my mobile at the time that the call sounded and hadn't a clue what it was .... then I turned around to see this giant bird sitting on a tree stump about 10 feet away so I nearly dropped the phone and got a shot .... and then another two hundred!!! He/she was teaching the juv to fish and also providing a meal for it. I felt so privileged to be able to spend an hour with such a majestic creature... and all in the wild too ... not a cage in sight.
Hi Ed, I missed your comment there. How great to know you are still around! Thanks for the kind words... and I did think it was a female but had nothing but a juv to compare it to. Just for everyone's information these are the pair that reside in the relocated nest normally on the other side of the rivermouth to where I was at Point Cartwright.
Would love to see some more of your fantastic shots Ed.... you were a great inspiration for me to keep pursuing my interest :')
Photo 7&9 are gems, The days the birds behave for us are rare indeed glad to see able take advantage of such a day,it makes it all seem worth it,and makes up for the days they just seem to make fun of us.
That is so true Sparrow, I have spent hours chasing Osprey for some fairly pathetic results. I am still blown away by remembering this morning ... and just to show that it was not all easy this is what it is like to get peed on by an Osprey when you are distracting her fishing !! LOL
Fantastic photos of a magnificant BOP, Birdie. Yes we are interested in sea birds...particularly as we live inland and only get to see Osprey when we travel!
Where do you live Edward? I would trade you a day with the Osprey for a night with the owls if I could!!! I had never really thought much about them till I read Sean Dooley's descriptions in The Big twitch.
Now these are brilliant - I can't believe you didn't think we would want to see them, especially thinking that I would not want to see a bird of prey! The top 2 are superb - brilliantly lit to show the patterns to perfection. The osprey is a stunning bird. You said you wanted to get better at birds of prey - well you have! you have well and truly nailed it
Birdie, we are just outside of Kilmore in Victoria - a long way from the beach! Lots of interesting birds and wildlife that we are still discovering, having been in the area for only a year.
We are very lucky to have the owls on our property, but the Osprey (being less familiar to us) is also a stunning bird! And to see her hunt and feed her young must be amazing :-)
Thanks Birdgirl.... well I have found that sea bird shots are not all that well patronised on here I guess.
It was unbelievable truly.... to be so close to such a creature and she let me sit quietly by while she called to her chick and proceeded to kill the fish. Her talons were stuck right into it and looped round so she didn't even have to grip it ...it was stuck fast likek on a meat hook. Actually she was not having much luck fishing for the first 30 minutes that I was there and a lady walked by with a tiny poodle about 2 meters from where she was on the rock. I was thinking to myself that she should hurry past or maybe the Osprey might try a change of diet!!!! LOL
Edward I don't think I have ever lived that far from a beach or a harbour. But the inland country has so much other wildlife to offer and it has a unique beauty too. Wasn't Kilmore where the fires were ?
Were you involved there?
We have had our property for just over a year, (bought it about 6 months after black saturday) and the property was unaffected by the fire. The previous owner must have had an amazing/scary view that day, as we have views along the great dividing range and can see Kilmore east (where it started), Mt Disappointment, Strathewan, Kinglake with Lake Mountain in the background (near Marysville). The hills across the valley are still looking very sparse of trees, although since the recent rains they are starting to look a little more green.
Oh Birdie, what an amazing experience and such brilliant shots, I agree with birdgirl...you have nailed it with these shots. Truly stunning captures of a magnificent bird :)
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best
Thanks Wanda, Hev and George. Yes George they were taken at the river mouth on the ocean side. Quite amazing really, I started with Brown HEs then chased the wrens (to no avail) , then stumbled across this amazing scene and went on to pick up the Koels raiding a nest up in the canopy on the walk back up to the car.
All in all a very special day's birding.
Edward... it is good to hear that the green is returning and that the beautiful owls did not get decimated.
Hev... next time you come up here I will be more prepared as to where to take you and hopefully we can share an experience like this together :)
Hi all, was back with the Osprey this avo, but conditions were not optimum and I wasn't concentrating as I had family with me and kept gettign side tracked by the variegated fairy wrens in the bushes just behind! These shots are a bit on the noisy side due to incorrect exposure but still worth seeing from a behaviour point of view.
Juv Osprey waiting for Adult to return with food
Gets very excited at hearing parent approaching ( parent not visible at this point}
The parent bird now holds the fish out to the juv for removal from it's talons and eventually flies off. now the young bird gets very excited and does a few training flyovers with the fish attached to it's claws.
Before finally coming to rest and proceeding to eat the fish.
At this point my daughter persuaded me to give her the camera for a run at some shots. No doubt she will put them up at a later date.
Just love the one of the parent passing the food to the baby, you are amazing at capturing the right photo! I so look forward to more of your amazing sea birds.
Hev.... I'll show you Osprey if you show me the WTP one day. BTW as much as I enjoyed our last walk together, there are much better places to find birds up here as I am now finding out :) Mind you , finishing your bird watching with a Cafe in Noosa does have a certain appeal, I doubt they have one at the WTP ...he he .
Wanda ... thanks for the kind words. Someone, on here I think, once told me that it is just a matter of watching and waiting as especially in circumstances like these the behaviour is quite predictable. So in a way the situation is very forgiving. If you miss the action once then there may always be a chance that it will be repeated so you can get ready for it. Not so with those pesky wrens yesterday as, though there were plenty of them, I didn't manage a shot! But the same thing applies in a way, if you sat quietly and let them forget about you then they will carry on. I think the lesson is patience.
I get very excited unfortunately when something great happens and then make silly mistakes as I worry that I will miss the action.
Where are you Wanda? Do you live near the sea? Sorry if I should know but I have a 2 hour memory these days .
Hi Birdie, no I am not near the sea, I am at the foot of the Blue Mountains and very close to the Nepean River. I live on a few acres and I get lots of wrens here and they are not bothered by me at all. I am lucky as I get a good variety of birds. You keep up the good work and there is nothing wrong with excitement when something is happening in the birdworld.
Gidday Birdie, I have not been on here for some time and up until today I have had no computer either.
That aside I saw these shots and I have to say they are simply the best shots I have seen of a BOP.
You have captured one of my favourite BOP'S in some of the best shots I have seen, not an easy one to capture either.....bloody top job Birdie!!!!
My favourites by far are the shots of it on the branch with wings spread and fish in talons,simply beautiful.
I would love to get up that close to an Osprey.
love your Catbird to :)
Hi Tassie how great to see you back here again, and thanks for dropping in with those very kind words, it was a special experience and I can now recognise an Osprey from anywhere in the sky and by sound..... so ... one BOP nailed that's for sure. And yes I love my catbirds too... even if they did leave my banana sticking to the branch!
You should come birding on the coast one day and I can show you both ! :') LOL
Thanks Jeanne..... using exactly the same lens as you, just a newer body (LOL I WISH) I have the 1000D. You can tell the difference between the shots taken on the bright sunny day and the difficult grey.white reflective sky. Also I have found that with certain moving subjects if I can get a field of action plane ( as in distance that will be acceptably sharp) and set the focus manually it is faster and then I can use very high ISO and shutter and just keep shooting. Depends on your situation of course, and where they are flying to and from!
At least with digital you can experiment and there is nothing to lose but your patience!!!
Thanks cathshane.... definitely the highlight of 2010 for me and my birding. Living with and learning about our environment is a wonderful thing, it was less than two years ago I took a pic of an osprey at a beach up north and put it up here for ID.... terrible pic and absolutely no idea what the hell it was!
Birdie, just caught up with this lot, not sure if anyone else has used this word, and only one word from me for the above - Awesome! Fantastic shots and I feel very excited for you, even if it was a little while ago now.
I've succumbed to the birding bug!
Alice Springs, NT
How lucky are you! I would love to see one and you posted a top series of shots. Lots of very good ones in there and i love the range of poses and behaviour. Thanks so much for sharing all this with us.
Well thanks Richard for resurrecting this post...it is good because there are always newcomers that havent seen stuff before. Yes this is a remarkable experience and one that I intend to revisit in a month or so when they have their new baby...here's hoping! We are very lucky that the council and wilodflife protection orgs around here have taken such good care of our many pairs of Osprey. I was at the Sunshine Plaza last week and had a coffee at the outdoor cafe next to the canal and was able to watch the Osprey fishing in the canal and sitting on the rooftops and hear their amazing call to eachother. They live a few hundred meters away on the Telstra tower, which is where they have resided for over 10 years that I know of. Telstra takes care to give the nest a good trim each year as the sticks get unruly .,
Thanks to M-L, Jaytee and Owen for your kind words too.
Great shots,possibly the best BOP in flight photos i have seen on this site.
Thanks so much Sparrow, I have a lot more . it was the most incredible experience so far in my birdwatching "career"....just didn't think anyone was really interested in seabirds so couldn't be bothered doing a big post LOL
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Can anyone tell me if this is a male or female Osprey? It was fishing to feed its chick which was sitting close by ( hardly a tiny chick that is for sure) the bird in the last photo of the first lot is the chick. The calls were amazing and the experience left me speechless, which doesn't happen very often :')
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Timing is everything and I missed this one by a split second!
Those eyes are awesome...
And so are these feet
Standing on its catch....
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Every shot a winner,don't you hate it when you get home and find the shot of the day is out of frame,no matter how good the others are and there all good, you'll keep looking at that one photo and saying if only!
Birdie, what amazing photos you take. What a magnificent bird!
Hi Birdie They are awesome shots, the dark neckband tells us that that is the female.the male would have a much lighter neck, possibly all white. Again great shots.
Ed Townsville NQ
Ha ha .... yes that is true. But I have half a gig of shots on my computer that are all amazing so I can't really complain. I had gone down there on the off chance that they may be around, and had been in the trees looking for wrens that I could hear. I was actually on my mobile at the time that the call sounded and hadn't a clue what it was .... then I turned around to see this giant bird sitting on a tree stump about 10 feet away so I nearly dropped the phone and got a shot .... and then another two hundred!!! He/she was teaching the juv to fish and also providing a meal for it. I felt so privileged to be able to spend an hour with such a majestic creature... and all in the wild too ... not a cage in sight.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Hi Ed, I missed your comment there. How great to know you are still around! Thanks for the kind words... and I did think it was a female but had nothing but a juv to compare it to. Just for everyone's information these are the pair that reside in the relocated nest normally on the other side of the rivermouth to where I was at Point Cartwright.
Would love to see some more of your fantastic shots Ed.... you were a great inspiration for me to keep pursuing my interest :')
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Photo 7&9 are gems, The days the birds behave for us are rare indeed glad to see able take advantage of such a day,it makes it all seem worth it,and makes up for the days they just seem to make fun of us.
That is so true Sparrow, I have spent hours chasing Osprey for some fairly pathetic results. I am still blown away by remembering this morning ... and just to show that it was not all easy this is what it is like to get peed on by an Osprey when you are distracting her fishing !! LOL
Sunshine Coast Queensland
What an unforgettable experience. Great shots.
Fantastic photos of a magnificant BOP, Birdie. Yes we are interested in sea birds...particularly as we live inland and only get to see Osprey when we travel!
Where do you live Edward? I would trade you a day with the Osprey for a night with the owls if I could!!! I had never really thought much about them till I read Sean Dooley's descriptions in The Big twitch.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Now these are brilliant - I can't believe you didn't think we would want to see them, especially thinking that I would not want to see a bird of prey! The top 2 are superb - brilliantly lit to show the patterns to perfection. The osprey is a stunning bird. You said you wanted to get better at birds of prey - well you have! you have well and truly nailed it
Birdie, we are just outside of Kilmore in Victoria - a long way from the beach! Lots of interesting birds and wildlife that we are still discovering, having been in the area for only a year.
We are very lucky to have the owls on our property, but the Osprey (being less familiar to us) is also a stunning bird! And to see her hunt and feed her young must be amazing :-)
Thanks Birdgirl.... well I have found that sea bird shots are not all that well patronised on here I guess.
It was unbelievable truly.... to be so close to such a creature and she let me sit quietly by while she called to her chick and proceeded to kill the fish. Her talons were stuck right into it and looped round so she didn't even have to grip it ...it was stuck fast likek on a meat hook. Actually she was not having much luck fishing for the first 30 minutes that I was there and a lady walked by with a tiny poodle about 2 meters from where she was on the rock. I was thinking to myself that she should hurry past or maybe the Osprey might try a change of diet!!!! LOL
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Edward I don't think I have ever lived that far from a beach or a harbour. But the inland country has so much other wildlife to offer and it has a unique beauty too. Wasn't Kilmore where the fires were ?
Were you involved there?
Sunshine Coast Queensland
We have had our property for just over a year, (bought it about 6 months after black saturday) and the property was unaffected by the fire. The previous owner must have had an amazing/scary view that day, as we have views along the great dividing range and can see Kilmore east (where it started), Mt Disappointment, Strathewan, Kinglake with Lake Mountain in the background (near Marysville). The hills across the valley are still looking very sparse of trees, although since the recent rains they are starting to look a little more green.
Oh Birdie, what an amazing experience and such brilliant shots, I agree with birdgirl...you have nailed it with these shots. Truly stunning captures of a magnificent bird :)
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best
Brilliant ! I love them all and they make me wish that I was back there. They look as though they were taken at the river mouth.
Cheers,
George
Melbourne, VIC
Thanks Wanda, Hev and George. Yes George they were taken at the river mouth on the ocean side. Quite amazing really, I started with Brown HEs then chased the wrens (to no avail) , then stumbled across this amazing scene and went on to pick up the Koels raiding a nest up in the canopy on the walk back up to the car.
All in all a very special day's birding.
Edward... it is good to hear that the green is returning and that the beautiful owls did not get decimated.
Hev... next time you come up here I will be more prepared as to where to take you and hopefully we can share an experience like this together :)
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Hi all, was back with the Osprey this avo, but conditions were not optimum and I wasn't concentrating as I had family with me and kept gettign side tracked by the variegated fairy wrens in the bushes just behind! These shots are a bit on the noisy side due to incorrect exposure but still worth seeing from a behaviour point of view.
Juv Osprey waiting for Adult to return with food
Gets very excited at hearing parent approaching ( parent not visible at this point}
The parent bird now holds the fish out to the juv for removal from it's talons and eventually flies off.
now the young bird gets very excited and does a few training flyovers with the fish attached to it's claws.
Before finally coming to rest and proceeding to eat the fish.
At this point my daughter persuaded me to give her the camera for a run at some shots. No doubt she will put them up at a later date.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
oh wow again birdie, brilliant, yes defo want to go see these Ospreys when I am visiting next time:)
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best
Just love the one of the parent passing the food to the baby, you are amazing at capturing the right photo! I so look forward to more of your amazing sea birds.
Thanks Wanda and Hev..
Hev.... I'll show you Osprey if you show me the WTP one day. BTW as much as I enjoyed our last walk together, there are much better places to find birds up here as I am now finding out :) Mind you , finishing your bird watching with a Cafe in Noosa does have a certain appeal, I doubt they have one at the WTP ...he he .
Wanda ... thanks for the kind words. Someone, on here I think, once told me that it is just a matter of watching and waiting as especially in circumstances like these the behaviour is quite predictable. So in a way the situation is very forgiving. If you miss the action once then there may always be a chance that it will be repeated so you can get ready for it. Not so with those pesky wrens yesterday as, though there were plenty of them, I didn't manage a shot! But the same thing applies in a way, if you sat quietly and let them forget about you then they will carry on. I think the lesson is patience.
I get very excited unfortunately when something great happens and then make silly mistakes as I worry that I will miss the action.
Where are you Wanda? Do you live near the sea? Sorry if I should know but I have a 2 hour memory these days .
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Hi Birdie, no I am not near the sea, I am at the foot of the Blue Mountains and very close to the Nepean River. I live on a few acres and I get lots of wrens here and they are not bothered by me at all. I am lucky as I get a good variety of birds. You keep up the good work and there is nothing wrong with excitement when something is happening in the birdworld.
More terrific shots. It's great to see the behaviour and have the story that goes with it. THanks for sharing!
haha Birdie ...no there is no cafe at the WTP, but I could offer you a very nice carrot juice from my flask:)
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best
Gidday Birdie, I have not been on here for some time and up until today I have had no computer either.
That aside I saw these shots and I have to say they are simply the best shots I have seen of a BOP.
You have captured one of my favourite BOP'S in some of the best shots I have seen, not an easy one to capture either.....bloody top job Birdie!!!!
My favourites by far are the shots of it on the branch with wings spread and fish in talons,simply beautiful.
I would love to get up that close to an Osprey.
love your Catbird to :)
Hi Tassie how great to see you back here again, and thanks for dropping in with those very kind words, it was a special experience and I can now recognise an Osprey from anywhere in the sky and by sound..... so ... one BOP nailed that's for sure. And yes I love my catbirds too... even if they did leave my banana sticking to the branch!
You should come birding on the coast one day and I can show you both ! :') LOL
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
That would be good Birdie..... :)
WOW your photos are so sharp! all excellent shots
Jeanne
Brisbane QLD
Thanks Jeanne..... using exactly the same lens as you, just a newer body (LOL I WISH) I have the 1000D. You can tell the difference between the shots taken on the bright sunny day and the difficult grey.white reflective sky. Also I have found that with certain moving subjects if I can get a field of action plane ( as in distance that will be acceptably sharp) and set the focus manually it is faster and then I can use very high ISO and shutter and just keep shooting. Depends on your situation of course, and where they are flying to and from!
At least with digital you can experiment and there is nothing to lose but your patience!!!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Absolutely magnificent Birdie!
Thanks cathshane.... definitely the highlight of 2010 for me and my birding. Living with and learning about our environment is a wonderful thing, it was less than two years ago I took a pic of an osprey at a beach up north and put it up here for ID.... terrible pic and absolutely no idea what the hell it was!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Birdie, just caught up with this lot, not sure if anyone else has used this word, and only one word from me for the above - Awesome! Fantastic shots and I feel very excited for you, even if it was a little while ago now.
I've succumbed to the birding bug!
Alice Springs, NT
Thanks for bringing that "lot" up again!! Yes, that was an AWESOME Lot. Birdie's photos rock !!!!! M-L
M-L
Thanks rjwaring for resurrecting this thread, I had not seen it before.
Birdie, your photos are awesome.
Jeanne
Brisbane QLD
How lucky are you! I would love to see one and you posted a top series of shots. Lots of very good ones in there and i love the range of poses and behaviour. Thanks so much for sharing all this with us.
Cheers, Owen.
Well thanks Richard for resurrecting this post...it is good because there are always newcomers that havent seen stuff before. Yes this is a remarkable experience and one that I intend to revisit in a month or so when they have their new baby...here's hoping! We are very lucky that the council and wilodflife protection orgs around here have taken such good care of our many pairs of Osprey. I was at the Sunshine Plaza last week and had a coffee at the outdoor cafe next to the canal and was able to watch the Osprey fishing in the canal and sitting on the rooftops and hear their amazing call to eachother. They live a few hundred meters away on the Telstra tower, which is where they have resided for over 10 years that I know of. Telstra takes care to give the nest a good trim each year as the sticks get unruly .,
Thanks to M-L, Jaytee and Owen for your kind words too.
Sunshine Coast Queensland