The Eastern Osprey

[digartal]

The eastern osprey (Pandion haliaetus cristatus) is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. They live in Oceania at the coastal regions of the Australian continent, the Indonesian islands, New Guinea, and the Philippines. It is usually sedentary and pairs breed at the same nest site, building up a substantial structure on dead trees or limbs. The subspecies inhabits habitats close to coasts and estuaries, which provide opportunities for fishing. The eastern osprey's diet consists mostly of vertebrate fish species. It possesses specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey.

This bird had a chick in the nest just about here. They usually eat the head and gills first to ensure the fish is dead, and also because this contains the most nutrients for the parents.

 

 

[JRR]

Nice captures of the osprey and fish Mark

To be honest not my favourite of your productions. I didn't feel the music fit and for what little progress the osprey made on the fish, the production was quite long.

Just one person's opinion.....

 

 

[digartal]

12 hours ago, JRR said:

Nice captures of the osprey and fish Mark

To be honest not my favourite of your productions. I didn't feel the music fit and for what little progress the osprey made on the fish, the production was quite long.

Just one person's opinion.....

 

 

Thanks, John, I can see why you thought that, and thanks for the feedback. I did have indigenous Australian music initially, but used that music on the platypus. I guess when changing it out, I looked for a similar length rather than a style that suited. Interesting observation about the time/progress. Yes these were shot on low-speed continuous drive over about 4 minutes. There are some before and some after but I settled on these due to the similarity of the crossbar. On saying that it is often hard to get a good perspective of these birds so very happy with the images. I did take some drone video, also but processed that in another application. Thanks for commenting. Mark

[cottage]

Very common to see these in our back yard above the lagoon here on the East Coast of the US. 😀

[digartal]

14 hours ago, cottage said:

Very common to see these in our back yard above the lagoon here on the East Coast of the US. 😀

Thanks, lucky they are a regular visitor in your area. They are not common here, and the local government authorities are making nesting poles to encourage them to breed. The mortality rate of chicks is high and they only have a life span of about 8 years.

[cottage]

Yes, we enjoy hearing their 'screech' as they scan the lagoon waters below for yet another fish. 😎