Osprey Fishing

During  the last couple of years the migrating Osprey that stop over on the Fal estuary to build up their energy levels predating on the rivers shoals of mullet have become high on my Photography hit list.

What could be more rewarding than to capture images of these magnificent birds plunging into the water taking fish on the incoming tide while sending spray several metres into the air with the force of their impact into the creek.

The estuary is 6 -700m wide around Devoran and the birds obviously favour roosting and devouring their prey on the less populated tree lined south side of the creek which makes for challenging photography until the birds start fishing which tends to be towards the centre.

The first two images were taken during the couple of hours that I waited for a fishing sequence this morning,  I was using a Nikon F4 500mm lens with a 1.7 tele-converter added to achieve a focal length of 850mm but quality is poor and the birds to small in the frame for anything but illustrations

When the bird eventually took off I snapped away throughout their flight but I tend to settle for using the closer images as shown below taken from around the two to three hundred metre mark,  The first flight proved unsuccessful with several aborted dives so it was back to the waiting game for another hour when the bird tried again while giving me a second bite of the cherry as well.

When Osprey hit the water the impact is very dramatic and the bird is often totally submerged for a few seconds.

As they surface the battle begins to get wet plumage and in this particular case a two pound Mullet away from the drag of the water and airborne creating a wonderful wildlife spectacle

Once clear of the water the Osprey turns the fish  'head forward and tail back'  to reduce the wind resistance of the fish to make flight easier and while doing they also produce that classic fish feeding bird of prey image.

But this tale is not quite over for as the Osprey circled around gaining height before flying back to its preferred roost site it was Hassled by a pair of Jackdaw that were after the Mullet for several minutes before it finally managed to shake them off by landing in an alternative Oak tree several hundred metres farther down river.

On landing about half a mile away the Osprey took a rest and firmly locked one talon into the still livly wriggling fish while waiting for it to die before consuming its well earned breakfast,

Four enjoyable hours had passed so quickly and now I was running well late for my breakfast so I headed off home happy to have witnessed this fine bird in action again!!