I saw the first Ospreys for this year at the refuge less than a week ago. One of them was very busy building her nest on a platform.
At another part of the refuge, a pair of Ospreys was making distinct noises. Was the female telling her mate to go fishing?
After several minutes, he had enough and flew away to land on half of a fish that he must have brought in earlier and left on the ground not far from their nest .
He just stood on the fish for a long time as she kept calling out to him. Was she still hungry?
He would not budge, and at times appeared to take a nap!
She flew up to a top pole of the nest platform, and kept calling for him.
He did not move until a Crow flew in.
Another Crow showed up.
The Crows definitely wanted the rest of the fish but the Osprey held on. The female Osprey kept calling out.
He held on firmly.
One of the Crows started cawing, perhaps calling for reinforcement. The standoff went on for much longer, but I had to leave. Crows are known to attack Ospreys at times, so I am not sure whether these two Ospreys were able to keep their fish or not.
Rupali said:
Wonderful captures to tell a story.
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Jane Lurie said:
Beautiful photos and interesting sequence of these gorgeous birds, Hien. The image at takeoff is wonderful. Amazing that the crows take on the ospreys.
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you Jane! Crows and Ravens are among the smartest birds around.
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Jane Lurie said:
Indeed. They are amazing.
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Tiny said:
Love your ospreys, Hien! Crows do the same here and I’ve watched Papa Osprey’s flight show when he wants to get away from them 🙂 Happy your ospreys have returned and are building nests now.
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neihtn2012 said:
Thanks Tiny! I am glad you have seen Crows behave similarly in your salt marsh. We seem to be developing a Crow problem in our area. For the past five years they have been eating all of your pears before they even a chance to ripen, and Trenton, NJ is trying to chase some 30,000 Crows that have become a nuisance for the city.
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bluebrightly said:
Your photos of this little drama are great. The other day I watched two Bald eagles, most likely also a pair, arguing over a bird one was eating – well the one eating wasn’t arguing, the other one was! And a cawing crow is what alerted me to the scene in the first place, maybe because the bird was a crow….there were dark feathers under the branch where the eagle was. Always something happening! I’m glad your Ospreys are back, too.
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neihtn2012 said:
Very interesting! It could have been a Raven instead of a Crow. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9tyCjPoMVg
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bluebrightly said:
What an interesting video – it’s good to see them together, for size comparison. The bird I saw was definitely just a crow, I had excellent views of the size, he cawed, and ravens are scarce in that park. An interesting tidbit – our crows are a little smaller here:
http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/northwestern-crow
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DG MARYOGA said:
Gripping adventure story,Hien!Fantastic narrative photos,awesome details displaying the norms and the behaviour of the birds 🙂
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you Doda! Glad you like these photos!
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Dalo 2013 said:
Great series, the third shot belongs on a cover of an Osprey magazine 🙂 Each photo holding something special, the interaction between the crows and osprey is something else. Well done.
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you Randall! The Ospreys’ life centers around their nest, so I’ve learned to be there, be patient, and something sooner or later will happen. Two years ago, I learned that from a fellow photographer who told me he had been near an Osprey nest since 7 AM, and it was around 9:30 AM when I arrived.
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allentimphotos2 said:
Hien, great story and pictures. Will the story continue? Maybe at 11 pm.
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neihtn2012 said:
Ha ha! I hope they were able to keep their fish!
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allentimphotos2 said:
Me too.
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RV John said:
Another great Behavior series!
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you John!
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Nick Hunter said:
Wonderful post Hien. Congrats on capturing so much of the story with good images.
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you Nick!
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quietsolopursuits said:
Wow! What a superb series of images that not only show the beauty of the subjects, but also tell an entertaining story as well. I often attempt to figure out what birds are saying to each other in the ways that the “speak” but so far, I’m not having much luck. I wonder if birds can hear at frequencies above and/or below what we humans can hear, just as birds can see ultraviolet light when we can’t.
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neihtn2012 said:
“Avian hearing encompasses a narrower range of frequencies than human hearing; within that range, avian hearing is less sensitive than human hearing. Birds cannot hear ultrasound (>20,000 Hz), but some can hear infrasound (<20 Hz)." This is a direct quote from the following article: https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/39870/PDF
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Emma Cownie said:
I would that thought that crow vs osprey would only go one way but there’s clearly strength in numbers.
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neihtn2012 said:
Thanks for commenting, Emma! I think the Crows can summon many of them to fight against one or two Ospreys. In a town near us, people are trying to chase 30,000 Crows away because of the noise and other forms of pollution they create. So far, no news of any human victory yet.
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Emma Cownie said:
Wow! 30,000 crows. sounds a bit nightmarish!
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AmyRose🌹 said:
Now that I have a taste of what it takes to photograph birds, I applaud you!! Outstanding photographs, Hein!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you very much Amy!
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Helen C said:
Good morning, Hien. Love the story and all photos that go with it. I feel that we – people, birds, animals – have so much in common: the male and female role, fighting for food… 😉
Nice to see Osprey up close like this. Thank you.
Have a great day.
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you Helen. I am glad you like these photos. It does seem that birds, or wildlife in general, share a lot of common traits with us. Maybe we all came from that primordial DNA, if there was such a thing.
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Eliza Waters said:
Interesting to ponder what is being communicated. He obviously has his own ideas of what to do!
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neihtn2012 said:
You are right, Eliza. He seemed a little bit stubborn, like many of us. 🙂
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Jet Eliot said:
Great to watch this series, Hien, and the unfolding drama of the nesting ospreys. Your photos are fantastic. I love that one of the female lifting off (right before the crow photos) — seeing her hooked bill and powerful talons.
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neihtn2012 said:
These Ospreys were a joy to watch, Jet! They don’t seem to mind people watching them and went about their life as if we weren’t there.
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