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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Osprey in the trees
We were in Invermere last weekend. I spent some time watching a family of osprey on the water. This adult perched in this tree and made a couple of passes over a pond but no dives for fish. They looked pretty fantastic in the evening sunshine so I wasn’t too disappointed.
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Ospreys at the Castle Junction
Last week I spent a day walking, sitting, waiting and watching along the Bow River in the Banff National Park. I was enthralled with the comings and goings of four Ospreys centred around their part of the river at the Castle Junction between Banff and Lake Louise.
My last visit with them was in April and there were only two of these sea hawks flying around. It was wonderful to see their two chicks now almost fully matured.
Four large raptors on one nest, even theirs which is massive, is pretty crowded accommodations.
The parents seemed very feisty with the young ones, cajoling them to get airborne with squawks and dive bombs.
Amid all of the excitement, the birds circled the nest, perched in the trees over the river and they flew nearby several times. I would imagine they will migrate south in less than a month so I will try to get back to spend time watching them before they go.
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After the Osprey’s plunge
The pair of Ospreys I photographed in the Banff National Park a couple of weeks ago spent most of the afternoon with her on the nest and him perched high in trees over the Bow River. I waited a couple of hours for one of them to dive into the water for a fish.
It happened once, and it was fast. I missed the descent and the initial contact with the water. That bugged me but I got locked in once he surfaced.
I hoped to see a fish in his clutches but when his talons were out of the water and visible, there was no such luck – for them or me. It was interesting to watch the lifting into the air so I was not dismayed in any real way.
Flying past me, I waited to see where the next perch would be. I wanted to see if I would continue to be in a good location for the next dive. The Osprey had other ideas, and flew upriver, disappearing around a bend several hundred metres away. I watched that bend for a little while, in case there was a return flight, but ended the day shortly after that and headed home.
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Ospreys in flight
There was a lot of flight time during the afternoon that I spent watching a pair of Ospreys last weekend. They flew along the Bow River fishing, perching and collecting branches for their nest. I enjoyed watching them and having the opportunity to photograph them flying.
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An Osprey’s bath
I watched this osprey bathe in a shallow stretch of the Bow River in the Banff National Park on the weekend. The splashing around and dunking under water reminded me of my son when he’s having a soak in the bathtub.
After delivering a fish to his mate, he flew off, gliding under the bridge the nest is built on top of.
He took a break to soak for a few minutes and then dry out his feathers for a couple more.
After a long shake, the Osprey flew back to a high point to better survey the water.
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Dawn Osprey in Cabo San Lucas
One morning while I was set up for sunrise in the rocks on the coastline, one of the resident Ospreys flew low overhead looking for fish. Her sharp eyes picked me out easily and she looked at me for a couple of seconds before banking back towards the open water. The pink light from the eastern horizon softly painted the belly and underwing covert feathers.
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Osprey along the Sea of Cortez
There are two ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) who are residents at the Hacienda del Mar resort in Los Cabos. Ospreys are another favourite animal that I am fortunate to be able to photograph quite often at home. It is a bit surreal to see them living in a warm, southern climate as I think of them (myopically) as being a bird of the lakes in and near the Rocky mountains where I usually see them.
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They own the palm trees that line the pools and sun decks which overlook the beach using them as viewing towers to find fish near the shore in the Sea of Cortez.
Several times during our stay in Los Cabos, I had great opportunities to watch these beautiful birds fly to and from the tree tops and glide over the beach and rocks nearby.
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Evening Osprey
While we were in Osoyoos we spent one evening at the lake. As the sun was setting two ospreys circled above the water on the hunt for the last fish of the day. I followed one of them that came fairly close to our beach and shot when it crossed in front of the sun.
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Bow Valley Ospreys
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This adolescent osprey’s nest is along the Bow Valley on top of the Castle Junction bridge. Its sibling had not yet fledged and the two of them spent the whole two hours I watched them screaming at one another. Screaming may be too strong, but if they were just calling back and forth, it seemed to have considerable emotion behind it.
Maybe the one who was flying was urging the other one to try, maybe the nest-bound bird was telling the flier to go away. With other nests I know of emptying as their summer residents head south, I wonder how much longer the one will wait for the other.
Watching this bird circle around was incredible, it always is. After this flight it landed on a bushy tree nearby and at one point it stared down at me reminding me of an inquisitor.
My favourite one from this vantage point was when the raptor cocked its head in the direction of a sound and I caught this look.
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Summer exodus – flight of an osprey
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On the outskirts of Calgary, along Highway 8, there is an enormous nest that is the summer home for a pair of osprey. I drive by the nest most days and have watched them throughout the late spring and summer. A couple of weeks ago, I stopped one morning to photograph the pair and it turned out to be just a few days before they took flight for their winter climes.
There is some road work that started around this time so that may have prompted them to head south a bit early or the noticeably cooler air at night at the end of August may have made up their minds. Either way, they will be back again next year hopefully with plans to fledge a couple more chicks again.
Christopher Martin Photography 