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Osprey Argument

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) photo by Larry Jordan

It’s been really slow birding around here of late, with temperatures hovering around the 100 degree mark (that’s 38 Celsius) for the last four weeks.  So I’ve been perusing my photos for several reasons and whenever I do that, I always find images that I forgot I had.  Click on photos for full sized images.

Back in May, I spent a beautiful day at the Heron Festival at Clear Lake, sponsored by the Redbud Audubon Society.  It is a wonderful event with lots of activities for all ages.

I was able to observe some fascinating bird behavior like a Green Heron nesting and fishing, a Great Blue Heron rookery and several Osprey nests around the lake.  This nest was in a tree in Clear Lake State Park.

As I went around to the other side of the nest I could hear an Osprey screaming.  It seems that the female of the pair was not to pleased with the male for some reason.  She is the one with the brownish necklace and open beak.

Both the female and male Osprey incubate their eggs, the female incubating the majority of the time, and the male being the fisherman for the pair during incubation.

My guess is that this poor fellow has been shirking his duties in some way and now he has to answer to the boss!  If you look at the full sized image, you can see that the male’s nictitating membrane is covering his eye in this photo.

I think he knows who is in charge here.

I don’t think this photo needs any explanation

He took off, presumably on a mission to bring back some fish, and she turned her attention to me.

Even I can read this look.  “Do you want a piece of this too?”

No thanks madam. I’ll just be on my way now. Thank you for the photos 😉

To see more great bird photos, check out Bird Photography Weekly and World Bird Wednesday hosted by the insightful Dave Springman!

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Stewart M - Australia August 24, 2011, 2:23 am

    Hi – more ospreys – great birds and splendid pictures.

    SM

  • holdingmoments August 24, 2011, 4:08 am

    What a great sequence.
    Yea, she’s certainly the boss! lol

  • Boom & Gary August 24, 2011, 5:20 am

    Great photos and commentary!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

  • TexWisGirl August 24, 2011, 5:30 am

    oh my! thanks for the laugh! “bitch, bitch, bitch…”

  • springman August 24, 2011, 10:30 am

    Some behaviors cross species. I admit it, I don’t want a piece of that either!
    Wicked good shots there, how did you forget about them?! I hope the temp’s cool down soon, maybe hurricane Irene will mix the soup up.
    Cheers to you Sir!

  • Andrew August 24, 2011, 10:35 am

    A great post… beautiful images and a lovely read.

  • Mick August 24, 2011, 11:24 am

    A great series of photos and your captions are great too.

  • Modesto Viegas (Portugal) August 24, 2011, 12:48 pm

    Very good series!

  • Amy August 24, 2011, 2:55 pm

    Dang, she means business! Thanks for sharing this great observation that really made me laugh out loud! 🙂

  • springman August 25, 2011, 2:24 am

    XL! How did I miss that, XL being my T-shirt size and all. I better get my Roman numeral chart out again! Hey, I did not know you had some firefighting in your background. I can’t tell you how much I admire the bravery of volunteer fire fighters. We in Detroit get into so many fire scenes it seems second nature, I know exactly the strengths and weaknesses of everyone around me. There is comfort in that. For a volunteer, even with great training, it takes a lot of guts to tumble into that burning house without the several thousand hours of live experience we unfortunately have. You have my admiration and respect Brother!

  • Hilke Breder August 25, 2011, 4:57 am

    You caught his guilty crouch and her baleful looks, Larry. And your comments made me laugh! Love it!

  • Pat August 25, 2011, 5:44 am

    Great series of shots! He got an earful!

  • Randy Finley August 25, 2011, 7:38 am

    Love the osprey pictures. 🙂

    Randy
    http://www.wildlifist.com
    Wildlife of California

  • Victoria August 25, 2011, 11:17 am

    Lovely series of images… very expressive action and wonderful captions! Great even without the captions!!!

  • Victoria August 25, 2011, 11:18 am

    Well, alright… I haven’t gotten the hang of your comment posting yet… my previous comment links you to my vacation blog which isn’t what I posted for WBW this week… so here you go!

  • Sondra August 26, 2011, 1:43 pm

    Fantabulous photos of the Ospreys!!!!

  • Neil August 27, 2011, 4:08 pm

    Beautiful photos and captions.

  • missing moments August 27, 2011, 5:31 pm

    Amazing shots of the Ospreys! I love them. I watched the Decorah Iowa Eagle’s cam this early summer from hatching to fledging! It was so delightful to watch.

  • Jillsy Girl August 28, 2011, 4:26 am

    It appears when it comes to spousal duties, species play no favorites! 😉

  • Barb August 28, 2011, 5:36 am

    I truly enjoyed your sequence of photos – your commentary was absolutely right-on! so funny! Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting!

  • JM August 28, 2011, 8:04 am

    Fantastic shots of these gorgeous birds!

  • Phil August 28, 2011, 8:11 am

    I think you are spot on with your interpretation there Larry. Great pictures too.

  • Mike B. August 28, 2011, 10:58 am

    Love it! I’ve been hearing osprey calls all over the place recently. Hopefully there will be lots of chicks.

  • NatureFootstep August 28, 2011, 11:53 am

    Nice and great shots. 🙂

  • Tammy August 28, 2011, 2:29 pm

    What an awesome thing to see. Amazing shots of beautiful birds.

  • Sallie (FullTime-Life) August 29, 2011, 9:54 pm

    What a great post Larry. I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that your pictures are just amazingly beautiful, before I tell you that your comments had me laughing out loud. (I hope my husband would think they were funny too ;>). I love ospreys and we don’t see as many as we used to here where we stay in Oregon. I’m not sure why.

  • Marissa August 30, 2011, 12:18 pm

    Wow! She was really worked up, huh? That last shot just makes me think, “If looks could kill”.
    🙂
    These are amazing shots!