After monitoring Jamaica Bay, New York, for a couple of months with no signs of any chicks, they finally appeared yesterday. They must have been positioned at the bottom of the nest, which is fairly high on it's sides. The parents have been accumulating some long branches to help secure the nest. Those branches have been a hinderance for photography. They also have been accumulating plastic which makes for a messy photo. They have to do some better house (nest) cleaning- no clutter. The mom wasn't too happy for my visit either.
Very cool, #2 and #4 for me. You are getting great in-flights #10 is giving you some attitude, love their eye color at this stage, congrats on the chicks!
Karl Witt wrote:
Very cool, #2 and #4 for me. You are getting great in-flights #10 is giving you some attitude, love their eye color at this stage, congrats on the chicks!
Karl
Thanks for the kind comments and the picks, Karl. I was worried that the Osprey pair didn't produce any chicks this year. I guess they stayed deep in the nest for the first couple of weeks. They started to exercise their wings, but from deep in the nest could only view the wing tips. Maybe they will move out further next week.
pinball_pw wrote:
Sorry for breaking up your thread. I like number 9 the best. Must be the talons! - Paul
Thanks for picking a favorite, Paul. I also like the landing series the best. Those talons are really intimidating. At low passes you get to wonder if they will take a swipe one day, even though I never heard of it happening.
Way to go Gene and glad you saw the young. Surprised they took so long to spot as they look good size. Do you have any photos of the nesting when the female was incubating? I use this method on each nest so I don't have to write anything down on paper but just check the photo info.Great way to keep a history on any kind of nest if you stay with it all the way.
Lou
Jul 16, 2009 at 07:50 AM
anthony whitmo Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Number 7 really stand out for me
I like how the body is mostly shadowed from the sun with some sun breaking through over the wing lighting up the eye I like that one
On my monitor looks like most of the whites are over exposed. They don't look bad enough that they aren't recoverable if taken in RAW. I just didn't know if you noticed that or not (Comment only meant to help)
Great shots and looking forward to more of the chicks flights
Number 7 really stand out for me
I like how the body is mostly shadowed from the sun with some sun breaking through over the wing lighting up the eye I like that one
On my monitor looks like most of the whites are over exposed. They don't look bad enough that they aren't recoverable if taken in RAW. I just didn't know if you noticed that or not (Comment only meant to help)
Great shots and looking forward to more of the chicks flights
Ant
Thanks for your kind words and picking a favorite, Anthony. I was actually trying to get the sun shining underneath the body. Last outing,11-12 noon, I had the sun above the Osprey and all the shots were underexposed producing dark Osprey. This time I was on station 9 AM hoping the sunlight woud illuminate the underside of the Osprey. It appears I wasn't early enough - the sun was illuminating only part of the body. Maybe next time I will try to be on station around 7 AM.
As per the "whites", I am shooting in JPEG. Is there any way to darken the "whites" without darkening the body also? I tried to shoot in RAW, and didn't have much success in handling the "whites". If I shoot in Raw, do I have to use layers to concentrate on the "whites" without disturbing the rest of the bird's body?
Well Gene I would say the April one is the female (I see a necklace) and she is not down on eggs/egg yet but the look and the action in the nest I would think it to be the female. As for May I think she is down and June yes I am sure she is incubating and should be close to a hatch. I think your July one is also the female as the male is not to often found in the nest like this as his job is food but with all these raptors nothing is written in stone. The best way for the young and an adult is the eye color and the back plumage as they fill out.
I find the osprey very hard to photograph due to the nest sticks and in flight they always seem to come away dark due to the sky unless you get one in a bank and the sun hits the feathers. If you at about 100 feet you might try a Better Beamer but if the birds react to it than stop using it. If your going to watch this nest next year than document the arrival times when you first see them as that way you will have a good idea when to start making trips to the nest area the next year. I'm a bit lucky as many of the nests I watch are on private land and the people e- mail me when they show up. Other than that I have dates recorded of their about time of arrival at certain nests.It helps to tell when a hatch is due if you find them incubating early. Like the eagle give about 35 days per egg.
Lou
This looks like nest on the side of Cross Bay Blvd. We did not see the chicks when we were there last weekend. The chicks should be taking flight in a few weeks and that will be a treat. Very nice photos.
This looks like nest on the side of Cross Bay Blvd. We did not see the chicks when we were there last weekend. The chicks should be taking flight in a few weeks and that will be a treat. Very nice photos.
Morris
Apparently, that's the only nest you can get close.
#10 is giving you some attitude, love their eye color at this stage, congrats on the chicks!
good look at the younguns too 
Good job on the IFs 
I like that one
(Comment only meant to help) 