This is not an osprey. It is a dragonfly. Despite being smaller and faster than an osprey, it is easier to photograph. I took this photo last time I was at the pond looking for the osprey. The big bird made an appearance, did a fly-by, sat in a tree (out of sight) then flew off toward Alberni Inlet.I'm seeing osprey everywhere, but not finding the time to sit in one place and watch them.
I've seen one at Sproat Lake, but that lake is so big I wouldn't attempt to find a nest there. I've seen my friend up at the ponds intermittently. Watched her fly from the east (nest?) and soar down to the west, in the direction of the Inlet (fishing?).
She's probably the best bet to spend time watching. A friend has loaned me a portable blind, so now it's a matter of dedicating a day to osprey. That shouldn't be too hard.
Yesterday I was photographing motocross, yep that's the kind of thing I do, and a mark in the sky caught my attention.
Sure enough, crooked wings and all, a good sized osprey glided over the dusty, noisy track. My lens swung skyward practically involuntarily.
And I thought 'Hmmm, is that the one I see at the ponds?' The distance, as the osprey flies (in this case), isn't great. Or is the osprey population really taking off in this part of the world as I have suspected for several years?
Hard to say. It would be nice if there were some money out there for me to quit my day job and find out.
1 comment:
As a kid when i lived in the villages in the interiors of india,
i would sit in the heat of the sun on the branches of a Guava tree and watch many kinds of colurfully tailed dragonflies.
i recall the red bodied ones with black hued wings.
But slowly, they diminished, and now a days you mostly see the army coloured helicpotery ones.
i even think as a child we've been cruel when we caught them, the stupid thoughtless kids we were, we 'd tie tiny twigs or something similar and watch them lift it up just like helicopter do....
thankyou for all these lovely post, that reminds us of how wonderful and beautiful nature is, and all her children whether , big or tiny have the right to exist.
The earth ain't the monopoly of men.
;)
j
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