Conservation at Work

Hi all! I'd like to introduce you to our closest neighbours (well, I guess our bluebird boxes are closer, and the ground squirrels are closer still, but the ospreys are more noticeable). Several years ago, before we moved onto the acreage we now call home, local conservation groups erected a nesting platform at the edge of a pond in the Provincial Recreation Area surrounding a large reservoir. The platform attracted a nesting pair of osprey, and they have returned to raise a brood every year since. 

This is the female (mother) osprey, and if you look VERY closely (not really possible at just 1200px probably), you will see the backs of two of three of this year's young as they are tucked down into the nest. You might also notice a couple of wings and a tail under the platform...a pair of redwing blackbirds decided to also call this platform home and nest underneath their MUCH larger upstairs neighbours!

All summer long, EVERY time we drive up or down our driveway, the poor male, who chooses to perch on the fence separating our place from the Rec land, takes off and does a loop while we carry on. It seems the (vast?) majority of the time he has a trout firmly clutched in his talons when he does so. 

Every year we anxiously await the arrival of this female and her mate, and then the moment their babies hatch. And every year, we are sad to bid goodbye in the fall as the ospreys leave one by one. 

I photographed this image from my portable blind, and chose to shoot through foreground grasses to give it a soft, muted look in the post-sunset light. This is full-frame.

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Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED
ISO 800
1/200sec @ f/5.6
-0.33 stop underexposed on meter
Mounted on FEISOL CT-3372 Elite tripod with Acratech GV2 ballhead and Wimberley Sidekick
Full Frame

Post-Script: Discovered the last number of images I've processed without embedding the colour profile. While this image doesn't suffer greatly from that omission on my monitor, I thought I'd post the corrected file below.