Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Seahawks and sea monsters...

OK. These will be in reverse order, I guess; I don't have the patience to move everything around at this point. Most people who watch the NFL don't realize that the mascot for Seattle's football team--the Seahawks--is actually an Osprey; seahawk is just a nickname. This one is just coming back out of the water after diving, unsuccessfully, for a fish.
You can just see his head; he's just getting upright, readying his wings to fly up and out of there.
Osprey are AMAZING fishers. Unlike bald eagles, which swoop down and grab fish off the surface of the water with their talons, osprey actually dive right in, under the water when they have to.
You can just see the tips of his wings here, immediately after the dive. It was so great to watch this predator; he must have dove 5 or 6 different times. Unfortunately for him, he never caught anything. However, a couple of years ago, I was fishing the Weber River around Coalville, where there were many osprey nesting in the area. And while my friend and I caught nothing, we watched fish after fish being pulled out of the river by these great raptors.
Hitting the water hard for that elusive fish.
They soar around, watching the water for movement and once they find it, they sort of square up and plunge quickly for the water.
Just coming back out of the water. Was so hoping he'd have luck on his side. But alas, he came up empty.
As I was trying to follow him through my lens, I snapped just as a magpie flew across my lens. Thought it made an interesting shot.
Thank you, Mr. Osprey, for an AMAZING performance!
Pelican, just landing.
I love these black birds with the bright yellow eyes!
Like many bird species, pelicans seem to stick to a mate for life. What a cute couple.
Not difficult for me to fathom a close relationship between today's birds and yesterday's dinosaurs.
Trying to scoop up some fish.

2 comments:

Brynn said...

FANTASTIC, AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL pictures! Super great job at capturing natures true beauty! I'm totally impressed :)

Kari said...

Great action shots Wade! That should be one of my next practice sessions. My favorite is the couple of pelicans.