Some birds return silently in the spring and you have to search hard to find them. Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus), on the other hand, make their presence known as they soar overhead, often calling out in their loud, high-pitched voices that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology compared to “the sound of a whistling kettle taken rapidly off a stove.”
I spotted only a few ospreys yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, some of which I managed to photograph, but know from experience that they are only the advance guard of a larger group of osprey that will arrive soon and begin to build or repair their nests. As you may notice in the second photo, trees in our area are being to produce buds and it won’t be long before leaves begin to complicate my efforts to spot birds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Yesterday afternoon, I watched perhaps two dozen ospreys kettling so high in the sky I barely could see them. It was that call that attracted my attention. The wind had turned, and they clearly were taking advantage of the strong southerlies to begin their trek north. I hate to see them go, but their leaving’s a sign of spring, too.
Send them my way. 🙂 It is fascinating how the signs of spring are so different depending on where you live. I sometimes forget that and assume that my “normal” applies everywhere, which obviously is not the case. Each season brings with it changes. One of the reasons why I like spending time taking photos at a limited number of locations is that it allows me to see those seasonal changes more easily.
I think of that whenever I look at birds in bare trees, Mike. It won’t be long. Great in-flight shot.
Thanks, Dan. Ospreys make it a little easier by soaring and hovering, but it was a nice treat to photograph one with its wings fully extended.
Nice Mike! One of my favorite birds to photograph!
Thanks, Reed. I know that I will have multiple opportunities to photograph ospreys as we get into spring, but it is always exciting to see them when they first come back each year.
👏👏👏 Besutiful!
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Thanks, Mitzy.
I’m surprised they are so early. Maybe my surprise is because there is still snow piles left over in places here in Northern NJ, and some new snow is predicted for this afternoon. M 🙂
We were supposed to have a little wintery mix today but it never happened. Our temperatures have been above freezing here in Northern Virginia of late and things are definitely warming up.
Yes, all are coming back. But leaves and bugs are going to be the killers for us to bird watching.
In the spring I tend to switch from photographing birds to photographing insects, primarily butterflies and dragonflies. It is a different challenge than birds. However, before that happens I hope to photograph a few of the warblers as they make their way north through my area.
Doing macro is fun as well.
Macro was my first love when it came to getting serious about photography, which is why I have 60mm, 100mm, and 180mm macro lenses. 🙂
Nice collection.
Thanks.
Awesome