Wild Wednesday 21/52 Osprey Family

Posted in Bird Photography, birding, Birds of Prey, Nikon, Osprey, Photography, Wild WednesdayTagged , , , , , ,

Copyright © 2018 Deborah M. Zajac  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The day after Mother’s Day Gordon of undiscoveredimagesamongstus blog was the navigator for an excursion to see an Osprey nest that is currently inhabited with a family of 4.

We had some great sightings of the Female, Male, and little peeks at the chicks.  The morning was overcast, but during lunch the sun broke through the marine layer giving us some blue sky.

The Male was busy in the morning with chores; bringing in new nesting material.

Osprey Male with Nesting Material

Heading out again…

Opresy leaving the Nest

a peek at the chicks!

Osprey with Chicks in the Nest

Osprey and Chicks_DMZ7350

Osprey Facts:

COMMON NAME: Osprey

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pandion haliaetus

TYPE: Birds

DIET: Carnivores

AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 30 years

SIZE: Body, 21 to 23 in; wingspan, 5 to 6 ft

WEIGHT: 3.1 to 4.4 lbs

They are fantastic fishers. Their diet is 99% fish, so you’ll find them on rivers, lakes, ponds and coastal waterways around the world.

Ospreys hunt by diving to the water’s surface from some 30 to 100 feet up. They have gripping pads on their feet to help them pluck fish from the water with their curved claws and carry them for great distances. In flight, ospreys will orient the fish headfirst to ease wind resistance.~https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/o/osprey/

I didn’t get to see the aerial show Gordon and our friend Dan saw on Saturday, but I can’t complain. It was amazing see these fly to and from the nest, and get a bonus peek at the chicks.

We saw some other birds too, but I’ll save those for a rainy day. 🙂

He-Man was seated on a jury today so, I’ll be missing him for the next few days.  Funny that. When he first started telecommuting I wasn’t happy about it. Having him in my space all day; UGH!  I’ve had to adjust. It’s been a few years now and I’ve grown to appreciate him being here.

The Guinea Pig; Box, is settling in and he and Diva Dog are getting used to each other.  Box and she are communicating I think.  Diva Dog chuffs, and wags her tail like crazy when she’s inspecting Box, and his habitat, and Box chirps, and whistles and is really excited to see her after her walks.

Box is standing still in his habitat when I put my hand in to pet him now, so we’re making progress too. I’ll get some images of him to share soon.  He’s a cute little calico Guinea pig.

I hope your week is going well!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 200-500mm @500mm| f/8| ISO 800| SanDisk Digital Film

more to come…

 

 

64 thoughts on “Wild Wednesday 21/52 Osprey Family”

    1. Thank you!

      Yes, there are birding forums and clubs all over the country. I’m in a few, and friends will spot birds and share their location too.

      You’ve probably got a few birding clubs, and a meet up group or two, and forums there too.
      Birding is a popular thing. More than I knew when I first started paying attention.

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  7. What a great capture, Deborah! The angle of the wings is what really caught my attention. I had no idea that they could make 90 degree angles like that!

    I smiled at your comment about He-Man invaded your space when he first started telecommuting. In our house, it was reversed. Gilles had been working out of a home office for years – since the boys were quite young. When I retired, he was not happy about me being around all day in *his* space. I think he’s adjusted now – he hasn’t kicked me out yet 😉

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    1. It was a huge adjustment for me. I couldn’t practice piano while he was in meetings which mostly happens in the morning, and that’s my favorite time to practice, and housework…I’ve never liked him seeing me doing it. I’d rather have him keep his image of me not looking like a red faced hag, all sweaty from scrubbing the bathrooms.
      I’ve still not adjusted to that, but at least now I know we can live together in real Full Time mode. I had my doubts for a long time. 🙂

      I’m glad Giles adjusted too. 😜

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      1. oooo – you’re a piano player! So, so jealous … I don’t have even a smidge of musical talent.
        I could see that adjusting your routines would have been difficult, but even better that you can co-exist full time. It’s a good omen for retirement 🙂

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        1. I was never good at Piano. Mediocre, and when He-Man started working from home I gave up lessons because I couldn’t put in the hours I was practicing a day trying to be good.

          I just tinkle around the keys now and then these days. I haven’t even kept up with scales or Hanons. 😦

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      1. Oh you would love it. The Osprey have nests in strip center parking lots. Everywhere. Did You ever see my blog post of the baby osprey on my roof? We hung out for awhile. It was fresh out of its nest. And big as a hawk.

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  15. And, I thought you said you didn’t get good shots of the Osprey; you got some great shots! It was a fun day (imagine I did 3 visits in about a week and you reported we now have 30 years of opportunities to visit, if I live that long 😉 ). Thanks for the interesting facts about Ospreys; the way they carry their fish is really interesting cause they catch them when swooping down and to make sure the fish is aligned head first properly is really a neat trick (their padded feet was also interesting).
    So now your home is expanding with Box, grandson #1 must be happy with that pet. We had guinea pigs when we were kids and they are voracious eaters and make room for more eating quite often (put the cage over a garden area and you might get some natural fertilizer); they are cute and squeak a lot! Here’s a hint, go to a local neighborhood grocer or veggie stand and ask them for old discarded veggies and you will have an abundance of gp food without spending too much money. And if you mate them (you will have many gps quickly; the babies are born like little balls).

    I think I’m almost ready for another Osprey photo adventure (the wish is to get it swooping down to catch its fish); but the weather has been foggy and misty yesterday and today with thunderstorms forecast in the hills, especially where Jesh Stg lives).

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    1. I didn’t get too many shot of the male bringing in the nesting materials, and when they brought in food I missed that shot.

      Oh, I’m in for another trip up to see them. I’d love to get a great shot with a fish in their talons. I got a shot years ago, but it wasn’t a great one en mon avis.

      I think we’re headed into our summer overcast morning pattern already.

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    1. Thanks so much Melissa! I like the monochrome look of that first image too.

      It takes some adjusting to get to each other all day long when you haven’t had that type of relationship, but He-Man and I should be okay when he retires, but he’ll be the one making the HUGE adjustment then. This time has prepped me for it well I think. 🙂

      Hope your He-Man heals quickly! xx

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      1. Telecommuting seems like an excellent way to segue into retirement. I’m so glad you enjoy each other so much.
        Thank you~ He’s tired of being sick from diabetes and has committed to getting better so I’m hopeful.

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        1. Diabetes is hard. He-Mans parents both suffered with it. I hope he does get a handle on it and feels better.

          Telecommuting was a great way for us to get used to being together nearly 24/7/365. We weren’t that couple to start with, and we do have separate hobbies that give us space. 🙂

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          1. Yes, it sure is a tough illness to cope with. I hope he does, too.

            Thank goodness for telecommuting. Paul tells me he plans to be home a lot more. We’ve always been so far apart in our interests, maybe this will give us a chance to find things we both like. You’re way sounds healthy, though.

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            1. I can relate! He-Man is well, He-Man. He’s always been athletic,, and into something sport related. He was in two Kung Fu schools when I met him, then he began running ,which led to marathons, then triathlons, then cycling doing Century, and Double Century rides. He gone all day during the week-ends competing or training, and training in the evenings.

              I’m a slug apart from hiking which keeps me fit for going places for the photos.

              He’s also smarter than I am in so many areas, but I’ve always thought those things we do separately have given us lots of topics for conversation. We do enjoy hiking together, and going on vacation together, and talking about our children. 🙂

              Telecommuting was a blessing for us b/c I had doubts whether or not we could live together in “real Full Time” not just before, after work, and week-ends. 🙂
              Sounds like you and Paul will ease into it, and perhaps one day you’ll both wake up and realize you’re together all the time and like it! 😊

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  19. The chicks look like dad said “smile for the nice lady, she’s taking your picture.” I really like that photo. I, too will be interested to see a picture of Box. Come to think of it, have we had pictures of Diva Dog…recently…? I’ll feel bad if you had one last week and I missed it.

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        1. I know I don’t share images of Diva Dog or my family often. 🙂 Hopefully, I’ll get a good one of Box. I need to build some sort of enclosure for the backyard so he can get outside in the grass for a bit. I’d love to have a photo of him outside. Another project to work on. 🙂

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