Terrific sequence Alfred and very well captured and processed.
They are amazing to watch for sure, I love your "Dive" image.
Several years ago I was fortunate enough to photograph an Osprey at Bolsa Chica catching a 2.5 foot Sand Shark.
Excellent work Alfred.
Killer set Alfred. This is probably the best osprey grail series I've seen here. I might add that the American bald eagle may be a tad more powerful. I've seen them carry muskrats right out of the refuge in the winter. I also have seen and photographed the eagles diving feet first, up to their necks in the river and flying off with huge fish, some times the fish's tail would drag in the river all the way to the shoreline when the fish was too heavy for carrying away. Congrats.
Excellent work, Alfred. You got some great action shots of this powerful raptor
I don't know if you have seen this short movie, but just in case Really cool!
Shasoc wrote:
Excellent work, Alfred. You got some great action shots of this powerful raptor
I don't know if you have seen this short movie, but just in case Really cool!
Socrate
Holy Crab !!! This short movie by BBC is just amazing.....after watching this, I am more inclined to believe that the Osprey is way on top on Power measured by Weight Lifting ability. Thanks for posting the link.
Herb Houghton wrote:
Killer set Alfred. This is probably the best osprey grail series I've seen here. I might add that the American bald eagle may be a tad more powerful. I've seen them carry muskrats right out of the refuge in the winter. I also have seen and photographed the eagles diving feet first, up to their necks in the river and flying off with huge fish, some times the fish's tail would drag in the river all the way to the shoreline when the fish was too heavy for carrying away. Congrats.
Thank you for your comment and input Herb: But don't forget the average size of a Bald Eagle is 34" tall and the average size of an Osprey is only 24 inches (Nat Geo). And I did say "Ounce for Ounce"...IMHO, the Bald Eagle didn't even come close. Please also watch the short movie (link in comment above), which greatly support my claim. The strength of an Osprey's lifting power is often overlooked.
Lotuselite wrote:
Excellent sequence although I would not sell the Bald Eagle too short. I have a sequence of a pair of them teaming up to drive a Cormorant under water until they had exhausted it at which time one of them ended up on the surface keeping its wings out of the water. It then lifted off and came around and snatched the obviously dead Cormorant from the water, (the splash was red), and carried it a fair distance, dropped it and the other picked it up. They took turns trying to get it to shore but a Cormorant weighs about 4 pounds and it is a bird that can become waterlogged so I imagine it was just a bit too heavy for sustained flight.
The shots are a heavy crop but the details are there.
Great link to a wonderful series...it's just a shame that it was a bit too far otherwise that would be a senational series.
Bald Eagles are not known to carry heavyloads and all the Baldys that I had observed tried to scoop their preys and most of them tried to avoid touching the water with any part of their body.
Where as an Osprey dives in the water day in and day out and many instants we see Ospreys brings in heavyloads.
Here is a shot of an Osprey I took a while back (2007) bringing in a Muskie ....an ultimate catch for any lake sport fisherman, a fish known for its fighting power.... A fish expert told me that the Muskie must weight the same of the Osprey if not more. And then imagine the Osprey had to fight it at its own enviroment underwater, lifted it and carried it all the way back to the nest which was a mile or 2 away from this nest.
This is just my personal opinion and not scientific of course, But until someone proves me otherwise i would say Osprey is pretty powerful....Ounce for ounce.....
Thanks Tiny,
my understanding from various sources, (one a presentation at a Raptor recovery center in Sitka), is that a bald Eagle can lift, (note lift), around half its body weight. A Male is around 9 pounds with the female maybe a couple of pounds more. There are reports of Baldies carrying large loads such as geese but the ones I have read are where the Eagle took the bird in the air and probably could not sustain altitude for too long.
The Osprey, from the books I have, weighs around 3 pounds so I can well believe that on a percentage basis it is more powerful although I am sure ratios like this diminish as the birds get heavier, and perhaps vice versa.
I would very much liked to have had a longer lens when I got that sequence but like everyone else I imagine we could all use more reach at one time or another.
