Male Osprey in flight – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 800, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
Our trip to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in northeastern Utah was great despite my having been ill the last night we were there. We camped in two different locations this time and both had grand views of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
Last year at about this same time these Osprey were busy building their nest while this year they were already sitting on eggs. The male pictured above was flying past the nest with part of a fish in its talons. We sat for nearly an hour watching the male eat this fish on a distant power pole before he flew past. Have I ever mentioned that one needs tons of patience to be a bird photographer?
Female Osprey in golden light - Nikon D300, f5.6, 1/1000, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 357mm, natural light, not baited
The light in the morning can be gorgeous at Flaming Gorge, it was when I photographed the female regaining her balance on top of a power pole near the nest. We didn’t see much of this golden light though this trip. The Uinta Mountains can create their own weather and they certainly did the days we were there with clouds building up in the afternoons, some rain and thunderstorms too.
Female Osprey in low light - Nikon D300, f5.6, 1/160, ISO 1250, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
The last morning the light was low with clouds that were blocking the sun and spitting some rain down on us. I bumped my ISO up to 1250 and hoped to get a few useable images of the Osprey before we left. Even at ISO 1250 I wasn’t getting the shutter speed I would have liked and all the flight images I took had plenty of motion blur, I think I was quite lucky to get the female’s face in focus as she came in for a landing in this frame.
The beauty of Flaming Gorge - Nikon D300, f8, 1/500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 95mm, natural light
Who couldn’t love this view? I know each time I see it I am in awe of the beauty of the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, and this view is just a tiny part of the stunning vistas seen in the area.
I’ll be posting more Osprey images from this journey later along with scenery from other parts of the Recreation Area and Ashley National Forest.
It is cloudy and snowing hard outside this morning so I dug into my files and edited these nesting Osprey images I took last year in mid May at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in Utah. I absolutely love the Flaming Gorge area and have posted about it before. These images aren’t my best Osprey photos but I like the series, my Nikon D300 was in the shop being repaired so these were all taken with my Nikon D200, I won’t post my techs because there are so many images.
In this frame the male Osprey with a fish in his talons was flying into the nesting platform from below it but he has his eyes locked on the nest.
Male Osprey about to land with prey
As he came closer to the platform he flared his wings and tail to slow his flight down, he has released his grip on the fish with one talon, perhaps to enable him to grasp some of the nesting material as he landed.
Male and female Osprey at the nest
In this frame the female can be seen on the nest as the male approaches it.
Male Osprey landing on the nest
The male focused on landing, as I recall it was fairly breezy when I photographed this Osprey pair.
Male Osprey with wings flared
The male landed on the nest and flared his wings again.
The pair of Ospreys on the nest
I expected the male to give the fish to the female…
Male Osprey lifting off with his fish
But he didn’t. He took flight and landed on a nearby power pole and devoured the fish.
Female Osprey in flight
Not long after the female took flight and flew over the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, she may have been looking to catch a fish of her own.
Female Osprey about to land on the nest
She wasn’t gone long and didn’t catch a fish before she flew back onto the nest. There may have already been eggs because neither bird left the nest for very long.
Male Osprey fly by
The male flew past the nest before we left them alone and gave me great views of his bright yellow eyes.
The road outside my window has turned white while I have worked on this post and winter still has a grip on Utah but it won’t be all that long before the Ospreys migrate back here to their nesting grounds.
Osprey – Black-billed Magpie Fish Fight – Nikon D200, f6.s, 1/1250, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 257mm, natural light, not baited (OK the Osprey baited the Magpie!)
In May of this year I camped at Antelope Flat in the Flaming Gorge National recreation Area and near the boat ramp there was an Osprey nest. One of the poles near the nest seemed to be a perch that the Ospreys used to eat their prey on and this Osprey came in with a fish. Enter subject number 2, a Black-billed Magpie. Magpies are opportunistic feeders and it appeared that the Magpie was going to try to swipe the fish from the Osprey.
The Osprey won!
Mia
P.S.: My mother is visiting me on her first trip to Utah, she is going to love it! I’ll be slow to view and comment on your blogs, thanks for understanding. Please feel free to share this post with your friends and family.
Okay. At least this female Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is landing with flared wings and tail!
Female Osprey Landing on nest – Nikon D200, tripod mounted, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 200mm, natural light, not baited
I photographed this female Osprey as she came in to land on her nest near the shoreline of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in north-eastern Utah, quite often when Ospreys land they flare their wings and fan their tails to create enough drag to slow them down. The nest is on a manmade platform near the water and there is plenty of fish in the reservoir to support this Osprey family.
Female Osprey in flight – Nikon D200, tripod mounted, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
Prior to the image above the Osprey had been on the nest, she had been there for quite a long time and I believe she wanted to spread her wings so she lifted off and flew towards where I stood photographing her, I was zoomed all the way to 400mm. It looked like she might swing around even closer to me so I backed to zoom up to 200mm to hopefully fit her all in the frame. She tricked me though and flew right back to the nest which is why the top image is at 200mm, I wish I had left it fully zoomed out. Another time perhaps.
Osprey in trees before sunrise Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida Nikon D200, F5.6, 1/125, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
There were many mornings that I would arrive at Fort De Soto’s north beach before the sunrise, quite often I would look for a place to sit and watch the world awaken before there was enough light for bird photography, other times I would wander the beach waiting for the sun to peek over the eastern horizon.
On August 17, 2008 there was a full moon about to set in the west before the sunrise. To the east were thin clouds that were just beginning to get some early morning color. I heard an Osprey and looked to find it perched in the trees almost due east. The light was pretty low but I took a couple of photos of the bird any way at 6:59 am.
Full Moon August 17, 2008 Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida Nikon D200, f5.6, 1/250, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
At 7:09, almost exactly 10 minutes after taking the Osprey image I looked west to see the moon making its descent towards the horizon and took a few images of it. It was postively glowing in the sky with a few wispy clouds crossing over it.
I remembered that morning that my Nikon D200 has an “Image Overlay” function and having never tried it before I thought I would give it a shot. I had to read the manual (not something I do all the time) to figure out where in the menu that feature was located and then experimented with several frames. You can select two frames and then decide which level of transparency to use for each one. I don’t recall at this time what transparency levels I used to create the merged image below.
Summer Lunacy – Two images joined in camera using Nikon’s Image Overlay feature Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
I enjoyed the results of merging these two images together using Nikon’s Image Overlay feature. I did crop the resulting file to make the moon slightly off center then sharpened just the dark areas of the tree and bird, then selected the moon and slightly sharpened it too. I look at this photo and remember that part of it was looking due east while the other part was looking west.
I don’t normally play with the Image Overlay feature but there are times that the results can be very appealing.
Yes, I was expermenting with a little bit of Summer Lunacy. This is a bit whimsical and it makes me smile.
Mia
PS: Images like this can be created in Photoshop by using the two frames as two seperate layers and then using the blending feature you can reduce the transparency of either layer. Personally I like doing it in the camera, you never know what might happen and I like nice surprises.
Male Osprey in flight – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 800, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
Female Osprey in golden light - Nikon D300, f5.6, 1/1000, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 357mm, natural light, not baited
Female Osprey in low light - Nikon D300, f5.6, 1/160, ISO 1250, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
The beauty of Flaming Gorge - Nikon D300, f8, 1/500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 95mm, natural light
