Osprey and fish

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Osprey and fish

April 3, 2015 by Mike Powell

When an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) flew in my direction this morning at Huntley Meadows Park and landed in a tree, I had no idea that it was clutching a small fish. It was raining and I was trying to keep my gear dry, but the osprey was so close that I knew I had to try to get some shots. In fact, I was so close that when the bird opened its wings, I couldn’t fit the entire wingspan within the frame.

I noticed the fish in the talons of the right foot only later when I was reviewing the shots on my computer.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Osprey, Osprey with fish, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 11 Comments

11 Responses

on April 3, 2015 at 11:46 am | Reply Boeta: RumblingOcean & Having fun with camera blogs

Oh, nice catch, both of you…hehe
on April 3, 2015 at 11:51 am | Reply Gill McGrath

Those wings look like arms. A truly remarkable shot. Love it!
on April 3, 2015 at 11:55 am | Reply Laura (PA Pict)

Spectacular shot!
on April 3, 2015 at 12:21 pm | Reply SwittersB

That is a great catch!
on April 3, 2015 at 1:07 pm | Reply Dan Antion

Magnificent! Whst a great shot Mike.
on April 3, 2015 at 1:46 pm | Reply Victor Rakmil

Wow!
on April 3, 2015 at 6:13 pm | Reply svtakeiteasy

What a superb shot displaying the osprey in all its splendour! Well done Mike!
on April 4, 2015 at 6:34 am | Reply Lunch to go | Mike Powell

[…] « Osprey and fish […]
on April 4, 2015 at 9:42 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Interesting that it’s letting you get so close!
- on April 4, 2015 at 1:06 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  The amazing thing was that I was standing in a field and it flew right toward me and landed in a tree–I didn’t really have to move much at all (and didn’t dare to do so). With a zoom lens that goes out to 600mm, I have pretty good reach, so the osprey wasn’t really quite as close as he seems to be.
on April 4, 2015 at 2:15 pm | Reply Ginny48

WOW, Mike! What a spectacular shot! Congratulations on an amazing photo that held a surprise for you and a prize for the bird! I love Ospreys and drove to a nearby swamp area yesterday to see if our local duo had returned. The waters here are still mostly frozen, so I guess it will be awhile longer before we see them. Their nesting tree fell down in a windstorm last year despite the kind efforts of people who had worked hard to cable it. The Ospreys did rebuild a much smaller nest and were successful in raising a pair of young. I’m sure they will add to that nest if they should return this year.