Although these older photos are not signed, I assure you that they’re all mine….
Each image can be enlarged in a new tab just by clicking on it.
My first recollection of Ospreys fishing go back to my days at 108 Mile Ranch/Resort where I lived for 15 years in the 70s and 80s. The golf course, where I spent a lot of my summer vacation days, overlooks 108 Lake and a small pond that separated the second and third holes back in those days. Nothing could distract me more than picking up on a Osprey hovering and then plunging almost vertically into the lake before lifting off with a big fat Rainbow!
But I never studied these magnificent birds. I took their avian performances for granted.
Nana and I thrilled to spectacle of Ospreys hunting on the Teshio River in Northwestern Hokkaido. When we settled in New Westminster, I used to travel 25 km either to Iona in Richmond or Grant’s Narrows in Pitt Meadows to enjoy the fish hawks in action, usually at considerable distance — perhaps a couple of times a year….
When planning our move to Kelowna, we were delighted, in late September 2014 (unusually late, but we didn’t know that then), on one of our first hikes along Mission Creek, not far from our current home, to discover this youngster atop a hydro pole feasting on a spawning Kokanee.
Soon, we were surprised to find several Osprey nests in locations that we often visited. Best of all, from 2014 through 2016, a pair of Ospreys nested in the largest Rec Field light, which we can see from my home office. At last, I was ready, willing, and able to do a little more serious study of the habits and talents of these awesome predators.
“Mom said to ask you, are we cleared to fly yet?”
The story of the raising of the twins (above) in the Spring and Summer of 2016 is told in another post. Today’s episode is dedicated to observations of Osprey in action, especially the father above (Poppa) in Belmont Pond which is only five or six stones throws from our condo and of the twins, once they learned to fly, learning how to do what Poppa does….
A brief word about Belmont Pond. It’s not very big, but it’s full of fish that feed mergansers and our Ospreys. But perhaps not quite what you think. Apparently, it’s an old quarry, not terribly deep, however. And the fish are distinctly non-native. More on this in a bit…. Here’s Poppa Osprey preparing for to catch lunch….
On two separate occasions from this very location, I’ve been privileged to watch both Poppa and Momma go about their predation. It usually takes them a couple or more tries, because, as you’ll see, their target is not very big, but it is very visible from up here!
Hover and drop is not the preferred technique, here.
Rather, the birds use a shallow dive, eagle-like, to grasp their prey in this pond….
The young ones, when they’re ready, will learn this method first, too….
This capture went quite smoothly.
But on another day, there was considerably more excitement,
which is covered in this post….
People sometimes ask me, “What’s your favourite bird?” Sounds like a simple enough question. Makes me wonder, though, why we ask each other about favourites—birds, food, movie or musical genre, places, people, games, forms of exercise, you name it.
That said, with regard to birds, for me, “favourite” should apply to birds that I regularly, over the course of a season or a year, have a chance to encounter, am likely to feel excited about seeing and/or hearing, and, probably, have some kind of history with (“most impressive” might yield different results from “favourite”). Birds that have sat in my hand, voluntarily, or even permitted me to get very close, either out of some sense of trust or merely a lack of fear are likely to top my list. The more I’m out in nature, the more I have intimate encounters with its denizens. Now that photographing birds is such a big part of my life, interaction has become increasingly satisfying and an objective to pursue.
In Kelowna, the main raptors include two species of eagles, a couple of hawks, falcons, owls, and, finally, Ospreys (which, of course, are also included among birds that live off the water). Yes, an Osprey is a hawk, but it’s unique, yet distributed world wide (except in Antarctica); I have vivid memories of a pair hunting spectacularly, diving repeatedly, over the Teshio River in Northwestern Hokkaido, as well as many I’ve observed in various parts of western Canada. The Okanagan Valley offers wonderful access to these birds. A great spot where several Osprey nests can be found within sight of each other is the estuary of the Osoyoos River near the BC—US border, about an hour and a half south of our home. The image below shows a parent, likely the male on the left, and a juvenile still in the nest on a platform erected specifically for Ospreys. Apparently they love the bale twine from the nearby hayfields!
birds & musings 