Osprey - Baby's First Flight

[Retief]

I have been watching this nest for several weeks now. The chicks were fairly large when I first saw them, and I wondered how long it would be before they would start to fly. Then I wondered if I could be lucky enough to be there when they did. Well, today was that day......

We checked this nest as well as another on the Everett waterfront, nothing happening, so we went looking for other roads to maybe get us closer, no luck. Came back to the first nest and we here the Osprey calling, it looks like there are only 2 birds in the nest, usually it is an adult and the two chicks. Then I see 2 other Osprey on 2 nearby pilings, the two adults. The next 10-15 minutes we see:

Practice Hops
Chick 1 Landing

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There were just jumping into the air, hovering and then landing
Chcik 2's turn

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Now Chick 1 hops up again:

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Then Mom comes back to the nest

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And Jr. is off for his first solo

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Jr. comes by to say Hi :!:

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After this flight it was back to the nest, where they all sat back and watched the video of Jr.'s First Solo :?: :?: :?: :?:

I never though I'd get this lucky, and boy was it fun to watch the "practice hovers", a really neat behavior right over the nest.

 

[Gale]

Jim,

Thank you for sharing this.
You story and images are wonderful

 

[Steve S]

wtg Bill!

Not many get to witness first flights of fledglings like you did. Great series and story.

 

[Flew]

Excellent series Bill. You must have had chills seeing these first flight attempts. 8)

Great captures!!

 

[mike mac]

WOW very cool thanks for sharing this must have been incredible to watch, I often wondered if some chick some where jumps out to fly and just flops to the ground :wink: Good shots BTW bet you are thrilled

 

[TOLady]

Bill, great pics. Talk about right place, right time, and right camera! I didn't know about the hopping and hovering - learn something new everyday. You've done well with this series.

 

[Gordon Large]

Hey Jim -
WOW. What an incrdible sequence. Watching this happen must have been thrilling. And your images capture the whole sequence beautifully. Congrats!

Gordon

 

[bobhoge]

Hi Bill,

An absolutely great sequence! Patience pays off.

Thank you for sharing,
Bob

 

[Retief]

Jim,

Thank you for sharing this.
You story and images are wonderful

OK, who the heck is this "Jim" fellow :?: :?: :?: Am I missing something? Will Nancy be even more surprised than I am :?: :?: Heck, I THOUGHT I was still me.....

Or should I say, "Thanks Sarah" :wink:

I wouldn't be so confused but for Gordon's post later on in the thread....hmmm....enquiring minds you know...

Thanks, Gale, from both Bill and Jim..... :wink:

 

[Retief]

Re: wtg Bill!

Not many get to witness first flights of fledglings like you did. Great series and story.

Thanks, Steve. We were hoping to see some of this with the Herons, Great Blue, a couple of months back, but all we saw were some "practice flaps", never a lift-off. I have over 40 shots of the two chicks jumping and hovering, it was so cool to see them just hanging there, this is a place where video would be superb.

Don't know if I will ever be this lucky again, but I sure hope so.

Thanks again,

 

[Retief]

Excellent series Bill. You must have had chills seeing these first flight attempts. 8)

Great captures!!

That I did, Frank, and I still do. Here is how it went:

Dewey walks down path to look at nest, camera in car:
"D$%&, it looks like the chicks are gone, I don't see three birds, just 2, I missed it"

Dewey looks around and says:
"Looks like a Cormorant on that other piling, think I'll grab the camera and look"

Dewey gets camera, looks at other piling"
" :!: :!: :!: :!: THAT is another Osprey :!: " at which time Dewey notices ANOTHER Osprey fly in to another close-in piling..
"WhooHOO :!: Something sure is going to happen :!: "

And then it is...
"Come ON birds, do SOMETHING for crying out oud :!: "

And you see the result, way cool....

No one else goes through this, do they :?: :?: :?:

 

[Retief]

WOW very cool thanks for sharing this must have been incredible to watch, I often wondered if some chick some where jumps out to fly and just flops to the ground :wink: Good shots BTW bet you are thrilled

Was thrilled, and I am STILL thrilled. This goes right at the top, along with watching baby Elephant Seals being born on the beach within 50 feet of me, that is a real thrill, surrounded by 5000 animals that big.

One thing that I found very interesting was how the "jumps" seemed to be right above the nest. Until the one chick flew off, all the activity was such that they would have fallen back into the nest. I have heard, however, that falls do happen, and not always with good endings.

Thanks, Mike, and to think that my goal this year was one Osprey in flight :lol: :lol:

 

[Retief]

Bill, great pics. Talk about right place, right time, and right camera! I didn't know about the hopping and hovering - learn something new everyday. You've done well with this series.

Thanks, Sandi, very true comments.

I agree, it seems that every time I go out I see and learn something new, which is REALLY cool. I made myself a promise many, MANY years ago to learn something new every day, and things like this are a REAL bonus.

Thanks a bunch....

 

[Retief]

Hey Jim -
WOW. What an incrdible sequence. Watching this happen must have been thrilling. And your images capture the whole sequence beautifully. Congrats!

Gordon

OK, Gordon, with Gale I put it down to too many Buzzards and working hard to show us the rest of that GBH with the HUGE fish, but what's your excuse :?: :?: :?: Who the HECK is this Jim guy, and how did he get in here :?: :?: :?:

Yeah, it was an incredible thrill. Nancy had gone back to the car to keep Scooter the Wonder Dog company. When I saw this start, I started waving at her, which she completely missed, and then started yelling, but I didn't want to disturb the birds. Luckily the yelling attracted Nancy and didn't bother the birds :lol: , so Nancy got to see it as well. My whole series of this activity is about 40 shots long, and that certainly didn't cover nearly all of it, it was almost as much fun watching as shooting :wink:

Thanks,

 

[Retief]

Hi Bill,

An absolutely great sequence! Patience pays off.

Thank you for sharing,
Bob

Thanks, Bob, but if we ever meet you will find out how my "patience" works...

"c'MON dangit, do something for crying out loud"..

"Anybody around here smell like a fish?"

"Hey, kid, can you look like Eagle food for me for a minute?"

On a more serious note, I have had folks who were watching ask why I don't throw a stick, or a rock, or shout. Most of the time I'll explain the "why that is a very bad thing" to them, but occasionaly, when they are obvious jerks, the remark is "How would you feel if I threw them at YOU :?: :?: :?: "

Patience is the second most difficult thing, the first is keeping a flying bird in focus :wink:

 

[james thiel]

Bill (Jim) or what ever your name is. Nice shots. This is really not fair. It is kind of like going to the casino and putting in hundreds of dollars worth of coins and win nothing, only to have that person walking buy, put one coin in and hitting the Jack Pot !!! The reason I say this is because I was at that nest in the morning for nearly two hours and the baby's never even flapped their wings. Then this Dewey guy shows up and gets these great pictures. Oh who said life was fair any way. Nice job Bill and wish I could have been there with you and Nancy.

 

[JayR]

Wow. Nice shots. It should have been pretty exciting to watch the "first flight" phenomenon. Very cool.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Gordon Large]

OK, Gordon, with Gale I put it down to too many Buzzards and working hard to show us the rest of that GBH with the HUGE fish, but what's your excuse :?: :?: :?: Who the HECK is this Jim guy, and how did he get in here :?: :?: :?:

Hi Bill -

Oops. Stupidity? Loss of memory with old age? Can't think of anything else. :? Except maybe spending too much time with Gale during Viera II and catching whatever she's got. :lol:

Cheers,
Gordon