Tag Archives: MN North: Canosia Wildlife Area

The Osprey Challenge

Year 6

I visited two Osprey nests this morning. Both are occupied, but with no evidence yet of young. The chicks should hatch soon. At each nest I was treated to an osprey eating a mid morning fish … and much more. In birding, occasionally all the angles add up. Today was such a morning. Both the sun and wind were behind me. Assuming anything more than a breeze, raptors due to their size will never take off down wind. The first sequence of images are a take-off. While I knew said bird was eating, I had no idea the fish was almost whole, and firmly grasped in the Osprey’s talons.

A pause before the take-off photographs. Folks have heard me espouse about the importance in using burst or continuous mode for bird photography. These five images took place in less than 1/2 second. Using a single shot mode, I would have captured just that … a single photo, but which image would it have been? With the fish? Taking Off? Who knows? In addition, I had RAW turned off. This almost doubles my continuous mode to 14 frames per second. While I know some people like to take RAW images, the result of taking that approach would have meant I would have missed 1/2 the take-off photos (RAW is almost twice as slow). Finally, since this a short photography tutorial, I performed minor editing in Photoshop Elements: Opened JPG image in Camera RAW (this is not a RAW image), slid clarity +40, Black +70 and White +20. At that point I finished opening the image and adjusted Shadows +12 and Highlights +6. A minor crop was used to position the osprey in the image at the point desired. As a fyi, these are considered “minor edits” in the world of photography.

Canosia State Wildlife Refuge Osprey Take-Off (less than 1/2 second for the sequence of photos … for those of you who know Duluth, this is the “steam shovel nest” on Lavaque Road approximately 2 miles north of the Martin Road intersection)

I then moved on to a second nest. I struck pay dirt again! An Osprey busy eating a recent capture. As to not startle the bird, I took 10+ minutes to get in position. Shortly after getting to my desired photography location, I realized the Osprey was upset, but not at me. The bird kept looking up into the sky and issuing a challenge. It took me a while, and quite frankly I expected to spy a bald eagle, but I finally saw two additional ospreys high overhead. Their presence was NOT desired. It took me well over 15 seconds to spot these birds even though the Osprey knew of their presence immediately! In the four photos you can observe that the Osprey’s wings are ready for instant take-off should defense of the nest and his mate become necessary.

Issuing a Challenge to the other two Ospreys

Challenge … the Movie!

Thankfully the interlopers glided off on some thermals, and my bird could get back to eating fish.

Brunch … The Movie!

Fish for Dinner! (and other fine stories)

Year 6, ,

I love the northward migration. Each day brings new sights and sounds … and bike rides along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Over the past few days the male Ospreys have returned to the Northland. Often two different males sit in the nests waiting for the females to return. Two afternoon’s ago I found one returnee enjoying a fish supper. Hope folks are not squeamish!

Osprey … Fish for Dinner!

Dinner … The Movie

It’s important not to ignore my own back yard. Sometimes as a photographer I focus too much upon known birding areas, but forget to take photos at home. Here across from Amity Creek in Duluth (where I live)

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Preening … the Movie!

However, I still like to get in the car and drive to my favorite birding locations. Early in the spring that means I head to NW Wisconsin and the Johnson Mitigation Wetlands near Cloverland. This morning’s trip yield many new returns, and some lingering Arctic birds.

Killdeer

Courting Wilson’s Snipe

The Movie … Wilsons’ in Love

I definitely am not forgetting the ponds at my local cemetery. With area lakes ice bound, Forest Hill Cemetery yields some good duck watching.

Ring-Necked Ducks (Two’s Company … Three’s a Crowd)

Finally, here is one leftover movie from the southwest. I never post this flick of a Cooper’s Hawk I watched my final afternoon. Cool bird.

Osprey First Flight!

Year 5,

Yesterday at sunrise magic happened. Over the past week I have been monitoring three Osprey nests in the Canosia State Wildlife Area. Each nest has two chicks, all of whom seemed ready to fledge.  On the way to the nest#1, I thought I might not even be able to see anything. The temperature was 44F with thick ground fog, but one mile before I reaching my destination the fog dissipated and the sun came out.

For the first 20 minutes I could only see one parent, which sat at the edge of the nest and screamed its greeting out into the morning. At this point, given some warming rays were finally touching the next, both chicks stood up, stretched, and tested their new flight wings. When the chick in back tested its wings, it lost its grip on the nest and rose to a height of four feet, quickly returned to the safety of its home! Such are first flights.

Osprey First Flight and Landing

Testing Flight Wings … Osprey Chick #1

On the way home I stopped by a local pond and discovered my first migrating Greater Yellowlegs on its way south. Interestingly enough, I did not know Yellowlegs eat minnows. I always thought they just consumed bugs. I guess not!