Catching fish in Kananaskis
After returning from the ospreys in Invermere without any shots of them catching fish, I was happy to capture this osprey’s successful hunt in Kananaskis last weekend.
This osprey and its partner hit the lake a couple of times over the course of a few hours. On this run, the raptor was close enough to afford good detail and provide a couple of nice images. Later in the afternoon, one of the osprey settled on a nearby tree to eat another catch to complete the cycle – no catch and release here!
I’ve been visiting this spot frequently and look forward to more opportunities through the summer.
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Eagles in the Columbia Valley
At the end of March, I had some time in Radium with my family. I spent the mornings meandering along the Columbia River as well as some of the valley’s ponds and puddles. This area of British Columbia seemed a couple of weeks further into spring than my home in Bragg Creek in Alberta. Green was starting to show on the trees and in the grassland. And on one lake, ice was still covering most of its surface.
The open water offered fish and the ice had some kind of insect, slug or some such on it. Ravens and bald eagles were drawn in by both. Over a couple of days I had some great opportunities to watch both and their occasional interactions.
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Eagle fishing in the Banff National Park
I watched this eagle glide across the Vermilion Lake from its nest on the far side. Ahead of his arrival on the shore in front of me, waterfowl and a couple of Great blue heron scattered in all directions. The eagle flew higher and circled a couple of times, staring into the water. He dove, his claws slicing the water, but finding no joy. The raptor pulled up into a branch of a dead tree to reconsider its approach.
Twenty minutes passed before his second flight. He flew in a wide arc, gaining a little more altitude. The birds that had been on the water, had not returned so the eagle had a clean line this time.
He dove, again, and this time his talons came off the surface with a fish in their grasp.
The fish was quickly moved from talons to beak and then swallowed mid-flight.
The eagle flew back up to the same tree and settled on a branch near where it had been pestered by the blackbird earlier. From there, I hoped he would fish again and I waited for more than an hour. Along the way, he called out a few times which gave some interesting head and beak positions to photograph.
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Morning fishermen
Along the coast in Los Cabos, I often came across fishermen casting among the rocks before sunrise. We would exchange greetings on passing by but they, like me, seemed intent on what they were about and enjoying the quiet the comes with the early morning.
I liked making the occasional photograph with them silhouetted against the colourful sky as they provided an interesting element to these beautiful scenes.
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Dive bombers: Pelicans fishing in Laguna
While in California last week, every morning flights of Brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) would glide over the water off of Aliso Beach in Laguna. A few of these would peel off and spiral up into the sky and then widen their circles while watching the water from high above. The last time I photographed Brown pelicans was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico a couple of years ago. I did not have the opportunity to watch those pelicans fish in the ocean so Laguna with its dive-bombing birds was a lot of fun for me.
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When a target was found they would point directly down and plunge towards the ocean.
Most of these dives resulted in the bird completely disappearing underwater for a second or two. More often than not a fish was caught between the chopsticks of the bird’s beak.
The seals were drawn to the same schools of fish so there were some neat moments with them close to a bird either going for a fish close-by or maybe even thieving one from the pelican.
I love watching these pelicans glide over the water. Often, they will skim a few inches above the surface for several hundred yards between wing beats. They will fly alone, in pairs or larger flocks all following the same path.
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They are great fliers which is most obvious during the exciting dives as they pin wheel and then dive. When they launch out of the water, the power and skill flying that they command are on display as well.
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I could spend a lot of time photographing these birds. They are graceful gliders, spectacular divers and great fishers. They present great opportunities for the photographer – including a little hide-and-seek!
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Fishing with a heron
Over the weekend I was in Vancouver for some photography work. With my friend Jack we visited the wonderful birds preparing for spring in the Lower Mainland. We spent time in the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary with Wood ducks and Sandhill cranes, the owls along Boundary Bay, Great blue herons (Ardea herodias) around the marinas and waterways in Ladner, and a few other great spots. Although I lived in Vancouver for university, I had not visited any of these locations for wildlife before. I was amazed by the birds and their numbers at almost every location. I am looking forward to sharing some of the images soon.
This Great blue heron was a highly proficient hunter and it collected fish steadily for the hour that we watched it from a bank in Ladner off of River Road. The heron moved along the shoreline as the tide was going out and kept up its hunting pace the whole time. Great opportunities to watch the heron’s behaviour and its technique. I learned a few tells of when it is readying to strike that yielded some really nice images. I’m having fun working through the collection.
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Encounters on Inle Lake
I am preparing entries for the Travel Photographer of the Year contest and reworked some of my images from Inle Lake in Myanmar that I made in February.
I have done a couple of posts (here and here and here) on these fishermen before. I still really enjoy this collection of images from the three days I spent on the lake.
Very good people I met on the water. I look forward to the next encounters I have on Inle somewhere down the road.
Christopher Martin Photography 