Female Ospreys Have Flare!

Female Osprey Landing on nest – Nikon D200, tripod mounted, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 200mm, natural light, not baited

I photographed this female Osprey as she came in to land on her nest near the shoreline of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in north-eastern Utah, quite often when Ospreys land they flare their wings and fan their tails to create enough drag to slow them down. The nest is on a manmade platform near the water and there is plenty of fish in the reservoir to support this Osprey family.

Prior to the image above the Osprey had been on the nest, she had been there for quite a long time and I believe she wanted to spread her wings so she lifted off and flew towards where I stood photographing her, I was zoomed all the way to 400mm. It looked like she might swing around even closer to me so I backed to zoom up to 200mm to hopefully fit her all in the frame. She tricked me though and flew right back to the nest which is why the top image is at 200mm, I wish I had left it fully zoomed out. Another time perhaps.

Female Osprey in flight – Nikon D200, tripod mounted, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

Mia McPherson, OntheWingPhotography.com

Mia McPherson

Mia McPherson is a nature lover, wildlife watcher and an avian photographer. Mia first become serious about bird photography when she moved to Florida in 2004. Her recent move to the Salt Lake area of Utah was a great opportunity to continue observing their behavior and photographing them. With so many birds species there easily accessible it wasn’t long before she was hooked. By learning more about each species, she can anticipate their behaviour and create opportunities to obtain ever better images of those species.

• Web
|
• Twitter
|
• Facebook
|
• More Posts (86)