Sunday Morning

Early last week, about this time I was asked to stop by my Aunt’s house. She wanted me to take photos of the Osprey nest just off her property. My Aunt and her neighbor have been watching the Osprey nest for a few weeks from their waterfront homes. The Osprey nest is no far from their bulkhead and more than visible to the naked human eye. Throughout the time that they have been observing the nest they realized it was not just the Osprey pair, but they had some babies! They wanted me to try and get a photograph of the Osprey babies feeding. This was a no-brainer for me, I am always up to shooting photos of birds, and I love raptors! When I woke up Sunday morning, July 7 I reached out to my aunt and asked if I could swing by and take the photographs of the Osprey nest and I am glad I did!

The Visit

I reached my Aunt’s house at about 11:30 AM and promptly set up to get started. I attached the Sigma 150mm-600mm Contemporary lens to my Nikon D750 body and was ready to shoot. But honestly… it was slow, maybe even boring for a time except for conversation with my Aunt.

We stood there and waited and…w.a.i.t.e.d and…… w..a..i..t..e..d. It was just what we now believe was the female in the nest, with the occasional nestling heads popping up. There appeared to be two nestlings in the nest. This wait lasted for about an hour when we heard the call… the male was nearby, which caused this reaction from the hungry nestlings.

The Male’s First Return to the nest

We were so excited to see the second mature Osprey return. This was not so much the story for the female Osprey! As the male circled the nest like a delayed flight landing at an airport she noticed something. Then we saw what she saw… the male did not have any food! As he approached the nest she lit him up with some heated Osprey talk.

She was screaming at him, I assume something like, “Where the hell have you been? You come back with no food!?! I have two hungry babies here!” Seemingly ashamed he flew off only to return less than five minutes later. This time, he was not empty-handed and brought back, what only I can compare to fast food.

Fast Food

I didn’t notice at first when he landed on a piling about 100 feet from the nest. I zoomed in maxed out the lens and noticed something peculiar. It was orange, but could not make it out looking through the lens. I reviewed the shot and noticed something was off. There are no bright orange fish that I no of in the Back River in Essex, MD. Upon further review the only thing that made any sense was he knew where he could get easy pickins! This was no ordinary river fish, at least not here… no this was either a large gold fish or decorative coy fish from somebody’s pond. It makes sense though, really it is bright, in clear easily accessible water. He was proud, it stood there holding the fish down with it’s talon. Here is where the story slows down again. He just waited for 10, 15, 20 minuted before the first nibble. I will not go into graphic details but it was a slow process. We waited again this time for another hour. Then it happened.

Lunch

He finally took as much as he could before flying proudly over to the nest with a headless fish, somebody’s pet presumably. He gave the fish to mom and let her do the feeding. The hungry babies were screaming again, but this time they had good eatin’. Proud of himself, after about 15 minutes he flew away.  The female, satisfied with her partners work, even though it took FOREVER, continued to feed her nestlings until they were full and she was content.

Osprey Facts

Here are some interesting facts I learned about Ospreys from whatbird.com. 99% of their diet consists of live fish! The bottom of their feet are barbed to help keep a fish from wiggling away in it’s grasp. For superior aerodynamics in flight, an Osprey will bring a large fish back to the nest head first. It is the only bird of prey that feeds exclusively on live fish. Eggs do not all hatch at the same time, the first chick can hatch up to five days before the last one. ” The Osprey has one of the largest ranges possible, with the populations of Africa and the Americas appearing in an estimated range of up to 9,670,000 square kilometers alone.” They global population is believed to be approximately 460,000 individuals. For more information on this incredible raptor please click the link above.