I watched this nest from 2014 to 2017 and managed to catch the first attempts at flight in each year. When the reliable afternoon winds came up, the juveniles would stand up and start flapping their wings, seemingly very puzzled by this strange new feeling. They would finally get enough lift to rise a foot or two above the nest, looking very frightened. They would manage to land again and disappear into the nest, not to be seen again until the next day. After about three days of this, they were flying free.
In 2017 life intervened, and I was looking forward to finally getting back this year when foot surgery intervened, so I’m under house arrest and digging into the archives, wishing I was there with the R5. Next year!
Specific Feedback Requested
All comments welcome!
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 1DX2, 100-400 II + 1.4X, f/8, ISO 2000, 1/2500 sec. Very minor nest cleanup and Topaz DeNoise.
I love it! Ospreys are so fast and so assured on the wing that it must be sort of odd to see them hesitant. There is a fledgling hummingbird around my yard and it’s slow and wonky and reminds me that they all have to start somewhere. Think of pictures of you when you first learned to walk.
The crispness here is still wonderful. Don’t feel bad about not having the camera you have now - you were on the spot.
And speaking of on the spot, I watched a young eagle get all tangled in a branch trying to turn and get to a parent on the nest, so youngsters are so clumsy. Pics later.
and PS. , get well soon. I had surgery for something last year and it put me off my game for longer than I wanted.
Oh, the fledgling hummer sounds like a real treat!! The ones I see are all Top Gun pilots.
On one of its early flights away from the nest one of the fledgling Osprey landed on a telephone or power line wire. He started swaying forward and back and almost fell before he regained enough balance to take off again.
We’re still laughing about our older daughter’s first steps. We were enjoying a robust Cabernet when she begged a taste. She dribbled most of it down the front of her shirt, got a silly grin and stood up and walked across the room – two steps forward, one backwards, one sideways…
Thanks for the wishes – It’ll be a while before bones knit together, but I’m thankfully getting by on Tylenol, ice packs and Cabernet.
Am enjoying a Paso Robles Grenache right now (excellent with ribs) and plan to dig into my archives in the dead of winter when it’s 20 below. Hit some of yours and share some stunners. I know you have them.
Really nice Diane. A fine capture of the moment which tells the story of this young one’s first flight attempts. Nice exposure with good detail in the shadows.
