GarySchim
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Great images of the Osprey Geoff. I have floated on the local rivers here in central Washington for decades. Starting with an inner tube and later expedition rafts, never with a camera though. Always focusing on the river and getting the best ride out of the rapids. Not a place for a 600, I was not even thinking about image capture like this. I did have an exceptional experience when ashore for lunch once. An Osprey caught my eye as it launched from its nest in the top of a dead snag in the middle of the Wenatchee River. On a mission of purpose, it wasted no time getting to river level, which was a foot or so deep in the shallows in late summer when the salmon begin to run. The Osprey, flying directly at me on the far bank, very quickly stretched out its talons as seen in one of your images, dipped them in the water and with the added weight, loss of air speed sank into the rapids deeper with a fighting fish "on hook." I could see it was really pulling to gain air speed and as soon as a huge salmon cleared the water horizontal to the birds length, the Osprey "handled" the large fish to point it's nose into the drection of flight to streamline the package. Remaining just above the water the Osprey required several wing beats to gain speed to be able to climb. Passing my location upriver gaining altitude, it continued climbing and in a wide turn to port had enough altitude to return to it's nest where the feast began. What an ideal location for an Osprey nest, I thought. Thanks for bringing that memory back for me!
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