Osprey II
This is a redo. I got shots of the nest a while back. I just stopped by the roadside and let the traffic behind weave around me. This time I pulled off the road once again. The sun was wrong. There were three – a juvenile and two adults? It was worth the stop. Sometimes you take what you can get or we have nothing to speak about, or, to look at.
Osprey – two
Look closely. The second head is peeking just under the right wing on the left. Ha ha, your other right, it’s the left of the picture. I stopped short, backed up, and drew angry gestures from passing bikers who had to swerve around my car parked on the grass at the roadside. Hey! I got the shot.
Baby
There are osprey nests all along the road. We stopped to view the parents and their newborn. How nice! I see one parent or another, but rarely the offspring. Lucky! We didn’t see the little one the next day.
Osprey
We passed him going up the road. I thought he was an eagle and turned around to try for a shot. I always have a camera somewhere close. Meanwhile Colleen did not estimate the spot well. She thought he’d flown. But no! I came upon him in the same tree. He was eating a meal. (Don’t ask what the dead thing is.) I got a mug shot – right, left, and frontal. Nice detail. It was kind of like a school photo. Action or some unique behavior would have been appreciated. I was happy to catch a good shot. I thought he was an eagle. But an osprey is good too. They don’t exactly sit by the road and pose. At least I did not get funny expressions as he chewed.
Birds of prey
We were riding bikes in St Michaels. It was a bike path of about one mile in length. Don’t laugh. I know. It was ridiculously short. We ended up in a new development by the water. I saw motion in my peripheral vision and focused on a pine tree a few hundred yards away. These darned point and shoot digital cameras have surprisingly good lenses. That’s an eagle.
Next, we have juvenile ospreys. The State built roost on wooden platforms mounted to poles in the marshes near the side of the road on US 1. Pairs of nesting ospreys have populated these sites. This year was a banner crop with nearly every site in use. The birds don’t mind much if I stop and shoot. I missed mama coming home to feed the little ones. My patient companion was still patient when we drove off. I try not to overstay my welcome.
Feeding time
A pair of barn swallows built a nest beneath the eve of my garage. They were devilishly difficult to photograph. My best effort got their open mouths as mom flitted in for a brief moment. They did not appreciate my presence. I could only get a shot or two. Otherwise the parents stayed away. They were more patient than I. I gave up and left a good image for another day. The kids got to eat in peace.
Baby ospreys? There are a lot of nesting pairs along the road. They perch in high isolated nests. Traffic passes and they don’t seem to mind.
photobackstory 