The Osprey has landed!!!

[muralin]

There is an Osprey nest near our home (for the folks in the Seattle area, the nest is on a makeshift telephone pole next to the Redmond Velodrome - where the 520 ends). Shot with the Sigma 500mm on a D300. Full frame. Very interested in getting your honest feedback...

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[JohnK]

Nice shot Murali, I see those birds every day but have never stopped to shoot them.

The eye looks a little odd on this one, is that this ones normal color? It may just be the lighting (or maybe just my eyes).

 

[keith5523]

I think it's a very unique shot in that it seems out of place. It looks like the Osprey is landing on a clothes line pole in somebody's back yard or something. The eye color looks correct to me. The chicks have different colored eyes from the adults...I don't shoot enough of them to remember which is which, but I think that is an adult. There are other distinguishing marks for the male and female. You can search here for similar threads about the distinguishing marks. Looks like a very capable shot to me.

 

[Jerry Green]

Osprey eye color

The Osprey in your photo is an adult which has yellow eyes. The juvenile's eye color is more orange as shown in this photo.
Jerry Green

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[jonh68]

Nice shot. A little soft though.

The eyes look more orange to me, but then I am colorblind. The best way to tell a juvenile from an adult is the juvenile will have white highlights on the tips of their feathers. It is hard to tell with this pic, but it could be a juvenile. If you have more pics in the series with shots of the black wings and bodies, you could better tell.

I do believe it to be a female as it has a black necklace around its shoulders. Most the pictures I have of paired osprey feature one with a necklace and one with a white chest. The "coupling" shots I have show the bird with the white chest "on top". Research on the web confirms that the white chested bird is usually male.

 

[alexf]

Nice shot, but a tad soft. Very nice to be able to shoot them close.