Talented Osprey
Known mostly as the Eastern Osprey, other names are Fish Hawk, Osprey.
It is a large graceful fishing hawk 50-65cm with a wing span to 1.7m. They can by seen near coastlines, estuaries, inlets, islands and surrounding waters, coral atolls, lagoons, rock cliffs and stacks.
They Breed April - July. The nest is large and made up of sticks, seaweed, rope etc high in trees or on pylons. In Queensland and I am sure this is done in the other states, there are many man made towers for the Ospreys erected near their habitats and close to their feeding grounds.
My first encounter with these huge graceful birds was a few years ago when a young male and a young female fell in love and decided to do it. They were rather funny to watch. The male knew he had to get sticks but hadn't worked out what he had to do with them. Then I watched him jump onto of her, but again he didn't know what to do next. This continued for some time, eventually the nest started taking shape, and I guess they worked the other issue out as well as they had 2 eggs in their nest. After sometime, the chicks hatched but shortly after they both died. The male and female haven't been seen since although I have seen one still hanging around. I have been told that they feel loss just like humans do and we are hoping they will get back together again.
They appear to be very gentle and I have managed to get up really close to them and they have not swooped me or made me feel uneasy in any way. In fact I think they enjoy having their photo taken.
In the photo below, he had dived down and grabbed a fish and did his flyover proudly displaying his catch
What a wing span that is
In some of my captures they look quiet compact and dainty, but in this shot below he still has his fish.
This photo below is not a good photo, but it shows just how powerful these beautiful birds are.
I took this at Suttons Beach, Redcliffe QLD. There was a lot of commotion on the beach, fishermen were casting a large net using a tinnie to take the net out and around. We could see a very large black shadow moving in the water, after a short time many men starting pulling in the large net up onto the beach. The pelicans thought it was great which turned out to be a massive school of mullet.
The weight of the mullet was putting holes in the net. Then all of a sudden this stunning Osprey appeared flying gracefully around and around in circles obviously looking for the biggest fish he could find. He then swooped down and grabbed this large fish. He was a good distance from the beach. We were standing on the wall. I had me telescopic lens and tripod, and really was pushing my camera and lens to the limit, but I had to try. I have never seen anything like this ever. The weight of the fish must a been a bit heavy as it did take him a while to start flying higher. At one stage we thought he was going to drop his fish but he didn't
I been fortunate to capture the Oprey returning to the nest with sticks. He looks like he is surfing the sky with his stick (riding his broomstick)
And perfect touch down
But They are another beautiful bird, One that we need to respect and look after.
Dedicated to all the Australian Fauna and Flora lost in the 2019/2020 bush fires