Wing-flapping practice

A week ago, on 10 August 2015, I drove to where one of the Osprey families in the city had their nest, built on a high, wooden platform. Luckily, I got there when the family was reasonably active - by the time I left, the three youngsters had settled down into the nest and disappeared from sight.

This photo is fully zoomed (48x, and according to the EXIF data, the Focal Length (35mm format) is 1200 mm), as I always stay far away so as not to stress any of the birds - also, those talons look really big and really sharp, and I still remember reading a number of years ago that Ospreys will attack anything or anyone that gets near their nest.

One of the adults had been perched on the end of this wooden bar. When it flew off in search of food, this young one that had been near the adult, very gingerly made its way the few inches to where the adult had been standing, turned around and, after some wing stretches and flapping, very carefully returned to its original spot. I also got a shot of one of the other nestlings when, with a powerful flap of its wings, it became airborne for a few seconds.

Some of the time, I could see one or both of the adults flying around, very high up. They returned to the nest with food a couple of times, but I was too slow to catch these moments properly.

"Unique among North American raptors for its diet of live fish and ability to dive into water to catch them, Ospreys are common sights soaring over shorelines, patrolling waterways, and standing on their huge stick nests, white heads gleaming. These large, rangy hawks do well around humans and have rebounded in numbers following the ban on the pesticide DDT. Hunting Ospreys are a picture of concentration, diving with feet outstretched and yellow eyes sighting straight along their talons." From AllABoutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Osprey/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osprey