06 Sunday Aug 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Just before I arrived at the Osprey nest, I saw the father finishing the head of a big fish that he had caught. He flew with the rest of it to the nest, handed it over to the mother, then perched up high, keeping watch.
Thank you dear!
Go on with your feeding. I’ll keep watch.
Open wide!
There! That will make you grow up to be a strong Osprey.
08 Saturday Apr 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Ospreys stay at the refuge from Spring to Fall, making their nests on platforms built for them. Last week I saw a pair at one of the nests which can easily be seen from Wildlife Drive. She was eating half of a fish that he had brought to her. He observed her for a while, then took off flying. He flew around the nest before circling back to her.
Ospreys: male circling back to female still eating half of a fish. She turned to watch him.
Ospreys: he landed on her back.
Ospreys: she held on to her morsel.
Ospreys: almost over.
Ospreys: done, he jumped back on the nest.
All of this love making lasted just a few seconds. In about two months I may be able to have pictures of Osprey chicks at this same nest. Note that the female was banded on one leg.
At another nest, a pair of Ospreys had already finished their breakfast and were just enjoying some down time.
Ospreys.
02 Saturday Jul 2016
Posted in Ocean City Welcome Center, Photography
The pictures below are those of an Osprey, not a Peregrine Falcon as I originally had thought. Thanks to Donna, I now realize my mistake and made the necessary corrections.
Osprey soaring over Ocean City Welcome Center.
Osprey flying over Ocean City Welcome Center.
Osprey on the hunt.
Osprey diving toward prey.
27 Sunday Mar 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Ospreys have been back at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge for at least two weeks already. Yesterday, I saw four nests that had been built up by them with twigs and branches. At one of them, the male Osprey was eating a fish on a perch not far from the nest where the female was incubating. By the time I got set up with my camera and tripod, he had finished eating the head and took the rest of the fish to her.
Male Osprey taking fish to female.
Male Osprey bringing fish to female in nest.
Female Osprey: “I’m going to eat this nice fish. Meanwhile you keep an eye on my eggs, won’t you?”
Female Osprey flying away with fish.
She made a wide loop, perhaps making sure that the guy with the camera was harmless enough.
She circled back to the same perch he used and started eating.
After a bite, she stopped to check on her mate:”Dear, are you watching those eggs?”
“Sure thing, honey!”
28 Monday Dec 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
canada goose, egret, great blue heron, house wren, nuthatch, osprey, photography, postaday, red fox, snow geese
I take a lot of pictures of wildlife, so Part 3 of this series will be about the birds and animals that I have seen through my camera.
Mallards taking off from an icy pond, February 2015.
Great Egret and Snowy Egret, April 2015.
Ospreys mating, April 2015.
Young Red Foxes, May 2015.
Canada Goose and Gosling, May 2015.
Nuthatch pretending to sleep, June 2015.
House Wren holding meal for fledgeling, August 2015.
Sanderling, November 2015.
Great Blue Heron in Flight, December 2015.
Snow Geese in flight, December 2015.
27 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Eight weeks ago at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, the Osprey chicks were still small.
Osprey mother feeding chicks.
This past Monday, all three chicks have grown up. They appeared to be waiting for their parents who were out looking for fish.
Young Ospreys.
It was a hot day with lots of mosquitoes and flies attacking me constantly, so I didn’t stick around to wait for the parents to come back to their nest.
11 Thursday Jun 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Yesterday I finally saw young chicks in some of the Osprey nests at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. The one shown below had two, possibly three, chicks who were very hungry.
Mother Osprey and chicks
Osprey mother feeding chick.
After a few minutes, the mother reminded her stoic mate that more fish was needed.
Mama Osprey: We need more food, dear. Will you go get more fish?
08 Monday Jun 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
A pair of Ospreys that I have been observing every time I drive through the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge must have young chicks by now, although they remain unseen in their nest. Yesterday, the mother was not incubating but standing guard at one side of the nest.
Mother Osprey guarding nest. Atlantic City skyline is in background.
About a minute later, her mate, who is quite a handyman (handybird?) returned with some twigs to build up the nest even higher.
Male Osprey, the handyman, returning to nest with twigs.
He started rearranging things as she watched.
Handyman Osprey tinkering with nest.
Suddenly, she jumped in.
Female Osprey jumped into the nest.
She grabbed the remaining part of the fish which was her meal, after he had previously eaten the head.
Female Osprey snatching part of fish.
Holding the fish with her feet, she circled the nest.
Female Osprey flying around nest with fish gripped in her talons.
Then she landed back.
Female Osprey returning to nest with fish.
She proceeded to eat the fish while the handyman kept working on their nest.
Female Osprey eating fish while her mate worked on their nest.
The refuge has seven or more Osprey nests, but this couple has the best looking and well-built fortress.
13 Wednesday May 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Yesterday at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge I stopped to check on an Osprey couple. At the same time, the male Osprey flew back to the nest with a sizable fish in his claws. He glided by the female who was sitting in the nest incubating.
Female Osprey incubating.
Then he went to a perch and proceeded to eat the head of the fish.
Male Osprey eating fish head.
After about 15 minutes, the male Osprey probably had its fill, stopped eating and defecated!
Male Osprey defecating.
Then he took the fish to his patient mate. She saw him flying to her and rose up in their nest.
Female Osprey getting up.
He gave her the fish.
Fish hand over.
She grabbed what remained of the fish and flew away to the same perch he had used.
Female Osprey leaving nest with fish.
At the perch, before she ate, she looked back one more time to make sure that he was going to sit on their eggs.
Female Osprey checking on her mate before eating: Dear, are you sitting down?
He of course sat down and took his turn incubating.
Male Osprey preparing to incubate: Don’t worry honey, I am doing my part.
Only then did she start eating.
07 Tuesday Apr 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Tags
Yesterday, driving toward the end of Wildlife Drive at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, I saw this Osprey perched on top of her nest.
Female Osprey waiting for mate to come back.
A photographer who had been there since sunrise told me that the Osprey was part of a pair at the nest. They had breakfast earlier, and then he had flown away somewhere. The gentleman told me that he was due back “soon”, and as he said that I saw the male Osprey flying toward the nest. We both clicked away with our cameras, but I was not expecting to take the following kind of photos.
Ospreys starting a family.
Ospreys…
Ospreys…
Ospreys…
Ospreys: it’s over.
Total elapsed time: 12 seconds.
06 Monday Apr 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Today I saw this couple of Ospreys at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge building a nest. At first, he was just watching her arranging their nest.
Ospreys building nest: he was just watching or waiting for orders from her.
Then she told him what she needed, and he took off.
Osprey took off to look for nest materials.
He soon flew back clutching a branch.
Honey, do you like this?
After a few minutes, she sent him off again.
Honey, look what I found!
15 Thursday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
More odds and ends, photos that did not make it to this blog during the past year. I took all of the following photos at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Juvenile ospreys
Adult osprey
Adult osprey
Adult osprey taking off
Finally, a flower I could not identify. If you know what it is please tell me in a comment.
Wild flower. Updated 06-Jan-2015: It is Queen Anne’s Lace as pointed out in a comment by Bà Tám below.
