Yesterday was full of pleasant surprises. And one not so pleasant.
Late yesterday morning I found four, possibly five, Swainson’s Hawks – all found within a small area in northern Utah. I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for migrating Swainson’s Hawks for the last several weeks but like many birds their migration seems to have been delayed by our unusually snowy and cold early spring weather.
A raptor on a utility pole is a type of photo I rarely take, much less post to my blog. But I’ll make an exception for my FOY (first of year) Swainson’s Hawk. In a heartbeat.
One of them was a dark morph that was perched on a fence post with its back to me, so of course it took off away from me. But when it curled around to my left in flight I was able to get this photo and a few others that were nearly broadside. At least I got a good head turn slightly toward me.
I drove a lot of miles yesterday that included four hours of actively searching for birds and I never saw any Swainson’s Hawks except for this cluster of four or five birds in a small area. So perhaps they’re migrating together.
Later that morning I was in for another fun surprise – a group of three Ospreys that were actively and very successfully fishing one of the several ponds I visited. At first I had no idea there were any Ospreys in the area.
So imagine this:
While I was slowly driving near the water on my left I saw an Osprey with a fish land high atop a utility pole on my right and in poor light. I was excited to see an Osprey so I stopped my pickup, opened the door and got out, and watched the Osprey through my lens that was propped over the top of my pickup cab. I didn’t take any photos in the poor light with a wire in front of the bird.
Suddenly I was startled by a very loud and explosive sound coming from the water right behind me. It was so loud and unexpected it made me jump. It sounded like something hard hitting something else hard at high speed, almost like a crash of some kind.
The noise, which sounded like a loud, hard slap rather than a splash, was caused by this Osprey when it dove on a fish and hit the water at high speed very close behind me. By the time I got my lens on the Osprey it was far away but the photo shows that it had a fish in its talons.
This shot was taken when it eventually curled around to land on top of one of the utility poles so it could enjoy its meal, in bad light of course. If you look closely you can see part of the tail of the fish.
There were times when I could see two or even all three Osprey cruising over the pond at the same time but by then it was late in the morning and the sun was high in the sky so I’m not pleased with most of my flight shots.
There were a couple of other utility poles that had a little better light on the Ospreys when they would use them as dining tables. When I took this shot there was another Osprey with a fish on another pole behind and to the left of this one.
This may look like an interesting pose, and it is, but it also makes me angry. The pose is a startle reaction caused by the very loud, sharp and unexpected bang of a gun. A group of men about 125 yards from me had begun shooting a pistol at the water’s surface. Their shooting angle on the water was such that the bullets would bounce off the water in a ricochet, then tumble through the air causing a very loud, high-pitched whirring noise. That noise apparently entertained the shooters so they did it again and again.
I was not amused and neither were the Ospreys trying to enjoy their late breakfasts on the poles.
After a few pistol shots the annoyed Osprey on the other pole took off and flew with its fish to a different pole much further away. I got this photo when it flew past me.
I wish I’d arrived at the pond earlier in the morning when the light was better. I told Mia where to find the Ospreys so at some point before they move on maybe she’ll have better luck with Osprey photos when the light isn’t so harsh. As for me, my bad back may not allow that much time in the saddle (pickup seat) again anytime soon.
Ron
I was very surprised to see an Osprey nest when I was out your way and driving around in the Wasatch mountains. We have about 300 nests here in Rhode Island and they begin to show up coming back from Central America around Saint Patrick’s day. They seem to follow the return of River Herring to our area. Catching a photo of one diving into the water and coming up with a fish is a real treat !!
Take it easy on that back of yours, my friend !!
You are a master at capturing birds, I bet you can capture a fantastic gallery of the hooligans and keep those too. It could help in the future if you see the same guys again, you can identify them as the same folks, if you witness them doing damage to birds. Please tell me that Utah would not approve that behavior with their guns and these type of birds here. I hope you never have to experience that again. The more worthy shocking experience is the shock of the plunge you heard from the bird diving into the water for fish. I hope your future allows more of those.
Deb, I always take photos of the ‘perps’ when I can. And I did this time but I had to be sneaky about it (after all, they had at least one gun and they were using it) so my driver’s side mirror covered some of the front of my lens, resulting in very soft shots of them.
Beautiful photos. At lest they were not shooting at the osprey. I’ve run into “fishermen” who own farm ponds shooting pelicans for eating “their fish” . I have been seeing ospreys in new areas lately. Again I think it is because water is still iced over in northern areas.
Thanks, April. When it comes to humans not much of anything surprises me anymore.
Love the osprey with the wings akimbo. 🙂
As to those damfuls with the pistols…how is that legal???? Ugh
“how is that legal?”
It’s Utah, Arwen. Guns rule, just like in too many other states.
The good news was very good. And spectacularly beautiful. The bad? I like Marty’s curse but I will instead wish on them painful (and incurable) Haemorrhoids.
I am very sorry to hear that your back is making its grumpiness felt too.
Thanks, EC. I’m finally beginning to go several days in a row without much discomfort and no pain to speak of. And then I do something wrong…
I like those photos of the hawks on top of the poles. The hawks have made good use of these human structures. That first photo is really nice.
Love the first Osprey shot; the bird seemingly looking over it’s shoulder.
It’s a shame that those folks with the guns were causing such a disturbance. Ignorance.
Nice photos especially for FOY encounters. Dark morph Swainson’s are always a treat to see. I hope you can get some good rest and be able to go out again soon and heve meaningful encounters with birds and no more human encounters to spoil the day and impact the birds.
Thank you, Dan. I hope so too, very much.
Sweet-faced Swainson’s … probably not the “normal” descriptor for any hawk, but I think it fits this gorgeous example of the species. Congratulations on spotting your FOY! And the Osprey—how wonderful to catch several in fishing mode, and they’re doing so successfully, something I’ve only rarely witnessed.
As for the encounter with the yahoos, one could hope for a bad bounce that results in self-injury. I just hope they weren’t considering shooting the Osprey except for your presence.
Oh dear, the back. Hoping it improves with a few days’ rest. 😊
“I just hope they weren’t considering shooting the Osprey”
Chris, that’s the first thing that came to mind when I heard the first shot. The first thing I did was look at the source of the shooting and then at the two Osprey – half expecting one of them to drop.
Raptors generally appear stern, almost angry, but in the first photo the Swainson’s Hawk looks rather serene.
Sibley pegs the wingspan of Osprey’s at 51”, but the one with fish over water looks to be about 15-20 feet.
Sorry to hear your back had to suffer. If it’s any consolation, the last several days of so many great photos have been, well, not to say worth it, but you know what I mean.
Yes, I know what you mean, Lyle. Sometimes I think it was worth it, but other times, like right now, I’m not so sure..
That Osprey on the pole is a sensational shot. Agree with Kris’s Tiny Minds comment and sorry it took those idiots actions to create this excellent shot.
Have not seen a Swainson’s here yet, but would guess one or two are passing through.
Everett, if we have Swainson’s, you almost certainly do.
Beautiful birds and fun encounter other than the idiots shooting at the water – ricochets are no joke. 🙁 Luv the Osprey even if it was being startled. Hope your back cuts you some slack – don’t even need more of that….. ;(
Thanks, Judy. No joke indeed. They’re very unpredictable.
Happy for you to get to see so many new ( for this season, anyway ) birds.
Daily, it seems, I’m astounded to see just how many TINY MINDS populate
the human species– I can’t imagine being entertained by plinking shots off a watery surface ! Maybe you should have offered to show them how to skip rocks.( probably too quiet for their amusement, and would have required
developing a skill )
“Maybe you should have offered to show them how to skip rocks.”
Kris, I don’t approach strangers with guns. Not in Utah. Not ever.
VERY wise stance particularly these days….. 🙁
Curses on those pistol idiots — may they have explosive diarrhea in a public loo with no TP!
So glad you got to see both the Swainson’s Hawks and Ospreys before all the human shenanigans. That first Osprey shot shows a pretty remarkable wingspan as well as very interesting positions of the primaries, secondaries, and tail. The physics nerd in me is screaming, “Bernoulli!” 😉
I’m hoping that with some good rest your back will feel better in a couple of days and you can get back out among ’em!
“may they have explosive diarrhea in a public loo with no TP!”
If only, Marty. If only…
Thanks for the good wishes about my back.