We have been watching a couple of Osprey building a nest about 15 metres up a eucalypt, overlooking the Georges River.
It will be interesting to see if they can successfully raise young as there aren't too many reports of this happening so far south. (At least as best as we can make out)
It would be most appreciated if anyone could provide additional information.
Cheers,
Antonia
Wonderful photos!!
I'd love to have a look! Would you be willing to share the location? (I grew up in Oatley...)
Not a good idea Michael and Antonia. Unless you want at least 200 people with their camera gear to turn up and disturb the birds.
(I'm always very careful, it happened to someone I knew, when he turned up, there were two camera teams there, even before he did)
M-L
Sorry Antonia, I also wanted to tell you, I think those photos are fantastic
M-L
Hi Michael and Araminta.
I am glad you enjoyed the photos. It is certainly good to hear positive comments
from people who specialise in bird photography. We feel a bit out of our depth.
If things progress to the next stage we hope to get some more images,
but for now we are going to stay well away and let them get on with the nesting undisturbed.
Cheers and thanks,
Antonia
great pics
you could always PM each other
Peter
I'll look forward to seeing more of your photos. Sorry for my question, in retrospect more than a little naïve!
M
Absolutely no need to apologise, Michael.
We were originally watching a single individual (from quite a distance)
and would have been very happy to point it out to any interested birdwatcher.
Then we noticed another one in the same tree and thought we would take a closer look.
When we realised romance was in the air, we decided to back right off and leave them alone.
As I mentioned earlier, it seems breeding is pretty rare south of Sydney but we would love
to hear from anyone that has particular knowledge about this.
Cheers,
Antonia
Great to see a pair of Osprey back at Narrabeen. Within the last 7 days they have gone from a few twigs to half a good looking nest.
These 2 are very jumpy, although tolerate viewers from the road only. I would not recommend moving closer to the tree from the snake infested bush for those 2 very good reasons. My thoughts are they are the same 2 pair from previous years considering a return to the same tree.
The nest itself is now built onto the main trunk and therefore appears to be in a more stable setting, unlike the last one which rested on an unstable branch extended well out from the centre. That ended in a broken heap on the ground with a single doomed egg unfortunately. Fingers are crossed^^
Hi Jules,
Thank you for sharing the photos of the Narrabeen ospreys. It is great to see them.
Hopefully they will successfully raise young and you will update us with photos from time to time.
Your photos motivated us go and and have a closer look at the Georges River ospreys.
(We normally watch them each day, from more than 400 metres, through binoculars)
The female was sitting quietly on a branch about 20 metres from her nest, eating seaweed.
Her serenity was rudely interrupted by the male landing on her back.
A little later she caught a fish and devoured it from the head down.
Although she was strongly backlit and presented little more than a silhouette, we saw her digging
something out of the fish and spit it out.
Imagine our surprise when we looked at the images on the computer and saw she had spat out
a baited fish-hook and fishing line.
Cheers,
Antonia
Wowser! Great images and incredible that you have captured the moment she almost devoured a hook!!!
May I enquire as to the camera setup you've got going there? Great zoom and seems sharp.
My forays into the local osprey territory will unfortunately come to an end in 5 weeks time. After 19 years on the Northern beaches I am to jet to the other side of the world permanently. Scandinavia will however provide plenty of raptor watching opportunities that I will be happy to share here in time to come.
Meanwhile, Im deadset on maximizing the most out of the time I still have left capturing these wonderful birds in Australia. Thanks for the reply.
All the very best in Scandinavia, Jules, & I look forward to your contributions over the next 5 weeks & beyond.
Hi Jules,
We are also disappointed that you won't be able to continue the photos through to the hatching stage.
However you may be able to post images from your new homeland?
(We use a Canon 1 series camera with a 400mm lens + 2x extender)
Cheers and best wishes for your new adventure,
Antonia
Thanks guys, I will be sure to keep the pics from Denmark and Sweeden rolling into this site.
the infamous raptor migration begins in Falsterbo, Sweeden come September. Literally thousands of raptors can be seen in a single day. Imagine that!!
Nice camera setup btw, Im also in the market for a prime 400L 5.6 to add to the 7d. The 300 f4 prime as brilliant as it is does not quite have the reach.
Anytime anyone is keen for a bird tour of the Northern Beaches in the next month - Feel free to hit me up.
Cheers.
JP
Not too sure if anyone remembers the Georges River Ospreys?
We have been watching them off and on for several months and can provide an update.
Around the 22nd of July, the female began to sit continuously on the nest with the male giving her a break for a half hour, every few hours.
On the 27th August we noticed the male standing on the edge of the nest looking into it with astonishment.
So yesterday morning (31st August) we tiptoed to within 70 metres and set up a remotely triggered camera and discretely hid in the shrubbery.
We saw the female pushing a broken eggshell from the nest and an hour or so later a tiny head popped up.
The parents seemed to be looking in two different places in many of the photos so we are guessing that there is more than one chick.
Dr Greg Clancy, who has done a PHD on Ospreys, has confirmed that if the chicks are successful, it will be the most southerly
reported Osprey breeding site.
Cheers,
Antonia
Thats so exciting! Well done at getting those great photos
I can't wait to see more!
Lovely to see these beautiful bird pics. Thank you for sharing.
Karen
Brisbane southside.
Gosh they're stunning birds - beautiful shots, and great news too! Perhaps there may be a little fluffy head, or two, peeking above the edge in time. Can't wait to see those if so! Thanks so much for the update Antonia.
West Coast Tasmania
Great images thank you so much .... A pleasure and treat
Teresa Skerratt
Gardens for Birds Bees and Butterflies
Great images Antonia!
Hope the chick survives eating the garbage laden fish from that river. :(
About two and a half years ago I had a pair of Eastern Ospreys (young birds, but a pair) that had started a nest building phase. Sadly, the main roost tree in which they spent every night for months (not the nest tree) collapsed and they left the area. Sporadically an osprey turns up between Penrith and Windsor along the Nepean/Hawkesbury systems, but I am not aware of any nest sites just yet. Yours is the second I heard of besides the Narrabeen Lakes pair. It is only a matter of the next decade or so that we'll have more Eastern Ospreys as they grow their numbers and in the next 20 or so years we should start seeing Brahminy Kites around at least Sydney's northern outskirts.
CONGRATS!!!
Jules, you should just buy a 1.4x converter and have a 420mm f/5.6L IS lens (that is image stabilized). In the nordic countries light ain't as good as here, so IS will be a great benefit.
Here is a shot of the female at Penrith bringing a large stick. Could not see where she was heading to though.
http://amatteroflight.com/gallery2/d/4921-2/Eastern-Osprey_0937.jpg
And another few of them.
This is the tree which they used to roost and feed in, collapsed in autumn 2011. I was sad to see them leave the area. Although, admittedly I have not put a large effort into looking for them either...
http://amatteroflight.com/gallery2/d/4923-2/Eastern-Osprey_0983.jpg
http://amatteroflight.com/gallery2/d/4929-2/Eastern-Osprey_1003.jpg
http://amatteroflight.com/gallery2/d/5516-2/IMG_2477.jpg
And further downstream (about 500m)
http://amatteroflight.com/gallery2/d/5453-2/20110608_9999_140.jpg
Many thanks Elsie, Karen, RubyE, teresaskez and akos.
It was very exciting to see that little head pop up and to (thankfully) have it almost in focus.
We might try to get some more images in few days time if all goes well.
Akos...your photos are brilliant. I don't know how you continually get such clear shots.
The Georges River is pretty clean nowadays, quite picturesque in fact.
(Except after heavy rain....then it becomes a muddy drain)
Cheers,
Antonia
PS Akos...we got some images of the Powerful Owls last night, feeding a brushtail possum to at least one chick.
I will put them on tonight or tomorrow.
Can't believe my mother hen eyes didn't spy that in your shots Antonia, not to mention reading your post properly, duh me, very sorry - was too engrossed admiring their beauty perhaps.
I always forget just how tiny baby birds (especially) start out, just so precious 
. Look forward to more down the track!
West Coast Tasmania
This one was actually taken when I first got my 500mm f/4L IS lens just over two years ago. The bird was a bit far away, though not too far to stack both my 1.4x and 2x converters on and get a total focal length of 1,400mm. I only had an old 30D at the time so with the small sensor the field of view was something ridiculous, like the equivalent of 2,240mm and it's just about a full frame image like that. A tripod was necessary too. The only reason there is a bit of a dark haze across the feet is because there was a tree crown between the bird and me and I couldn't get a better position to shoot from. :(
What 400mm lens does your husband use Antonia?
http://amatteroflight.com/gallery2/d/5453-2/20110608_9999_140.jpg