Osprey Watch

Yesterday saw me take another trip to dad's, He's doing really well and looking fit, despite lockdown and our return to cold, damp, windy weather. On the way home, despite the weather, I stopped by to see my osprey friends.

As I arrived Mr Osprey was sitting on a branch of a nearby tree, but he was quicker than me, so I missed that shot. Frustrating. I think I need to crawl up the hill so that they don't see me approach. I always seem to miss a shot on arrival. However, after about a 30 minute wait, eyes on Mrs Osprey sitting very low down in the nest (with an annoying bit of lichen right in front of her face), he suddenly flew in. I missed his arrival, got several shots of him sitting by her on the nest, and then a couple as he flew off again. To my great delight, when I zoomed in on my photo, I realised that he had a brown trout in his talons. I don't understand however, why he flew off with it - but I'm very glad he did!

I'm going to pop a photo on my odds and sods album so you can see the location of the nest, from my 'spot' on the hill.

[Valerie Chesney]

Wonderful capture, you can see the trout quite clearly in his talons. I so admire your patience but,,this is your reward. Fav

[KoalaGardens🐨]

so fantastic - and glad dad is doing well!

[Monique]

Amazing

[Casablanca]

Lovely to catch him in flight like this. Look at that trout! Excellent spot.

[Graeme Stevens]

great timing

[Nova]

Excellent capture Issi and good on you for waiting so long to get it. :)

[Babs]

Excellent shot. Maybe Mrs Osprey sent him back to the supermarket because he bought the wrong fish.

[Wylie]

action shot!

[Caterina]

Great capture, Issi! Mrs Osprey didn’t find the trout fresh enough? Such a story telling photo! Fav

[Cazzi]

This is a great capture and how wonderful that the Osprey had hold of a fish. I can imagine how excited you were when you looked at your camera.

[Judith Johnson]

So exciting to see. I watched them on Springwatch last night

[Pat Knowles]

Amazing capture....perhaps Mrs Osprey didn’t fancy the fish menu today! Strange he took off with it again but lovely & exciting to see...bet you could watch fir ever!

[Ann H. LeFevre]

Great shot- if I've learned anything from the bird photographers who have spoken at our photo club in the last year it's that timing can be everything with these shots. And sometimes you have to wait a long time before it happens. That you go every week increases your chances at getting this kind of shot because you're learning to read their behavior. That dangling fish is awesome!

[Bep]

Amazing capture!

[Kathy]

Nice capture!

[KWind]

Brilliantly timed!

[Milanie]

Considering where this nest is, I'm amazed at how clear this picture is! Wow!

[Hazel]

Such a good capture, well done!

[Issi Bannerman]

@onewing Yes, my comment was that she thought the fish was a little small and sent him back to get a bigger one! :-)

[Issi Bannerman]

@happypat Yes, I love it when I'm watching them, but after about 40 minutes in the cold, I'm usually happy to move on. However, when the finer days come, I'll probably happily hand out longer in the woods!

[Issi Bannerman]

@olivetreeann Yes, you certainly do get to know them a bit. I know now that the female perks her head up when he's within reach. I think she hears what I don't hear. And they usually circle before landing on the nest. It's a real privilege to get to watch this nest with relatively little effort, and no-one else around either.