Osprey Nest

Gallery: Man & FaunaPosted December 17, 2011545 views4 comments

I was going through some of my pictures from earlier in the year this week and found this image.

We were scoutiing for early-season bears this spring when we spotted these two ospreys in their nest. Their home is on a nesting platform erected beside the Belly River in southwestern Alberta. The nest seems to be made up of various materials, some natural and some man-made items. I guess the Ospreys seem to like to use twine in their nests, as I've seen several with twine in them, but this is the most I think I've seen (and the first with three different colours!). It seems sad to me that they use so much man-made things, and even worse that all this stuff is lying around in ditches and fields.

I'm always a little concerned when I see this that the Ospreys or their babies could get tangled up in the twine, especially the way it's frayed.

It really helped that the road is much higher than the river bottom here so I wasn't shooting straight up at them!

Nikon D300
Nikkor 300mm f/4 ED with 1.4TC
ISO 400
1/2000sec @ f/5.6
on beanbag from truck roof
cropped to about 80% and rotated, converted to 4X5 proportions
three exposure layers from ACR and minor adjustment in highlights and shadows to recover detail

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on December 18, 2011 at 2:07 AM

Very nice find! All the junk in the nest is interesting - and this is a very small nest, so likely young and inexperienced birds. Osprey seem to use almost anything in the nest - I've seen old tires, tarps, and more.
You're right to be concerned about the fate of the chicks - here is an old shot of mine that has a sad story :

http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=155376&CGISESSID=329817adb52a0ce3499d9fd842ae0cd7&u=19109

Nice shot!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Hank Pennington on December 19, 2011 at 7:36 AM

The bright color in the trash really set this off, Jenaya, helping viewers quickly identify the trash for what it is and see the threat. Well done, and good timing on the birds' poses.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 226 Posts, 1532 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on December 22, 2011 at 10:26 PM

Congrats on the WP - a very fine image!

Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on December 28, 2011 at 2:36 AM

Hi Jaye! Congratulations! I think you did a really nice job capturing these two ospreys and the crazy mess they were compiling into a nest. It seems like such a shame when you see this, and Sandy's story that she linked to certainly demonstrates some of the possible outcomes.

I was surprised at how well you were able to hold the highlights and still have some nice detail in the dark wings and body. Good job on getting both of them to give a pleasing pose at the same time, too!

I like your composition, but one of the things you couldn't control is actually one of the more endearing parts of this picture for me and adds a lot of visual interest: I love the way the branch is hanging down on the right, itself appearing to be snagged in some of the twine and filling out the story in its own way.

Congrats again!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments