Osprey Turf Battle

[Randy Stout]

This interaction took place at Placida. The female was sitting on the nest alone, her mate was getting nest material, and a third osprey tried to land on their nest. The female reacted very aggressively.

I wish that I had a better head angle on her, but I thought the interaction was still strong.

If the hand of man element, nest platform, is too much, let me know. With the Florida Osprey, it seems to be the rule, rather than the exception.

D300 70-200 VR 2.8 at f/5 1/4000 ISO 1000 +.3

All comments apprecited. I did use the level tool to level the nest platform.

[Nate Chappell]

Really neat interaction you captured well here Randy, I like oustretched talons of the female, if you have just a touch more room on top I would include that.

[Randy Stout]

Nate:

Thats all the room I have at the top. I was watching for the male to come back from another direction with nesting material, and just saw this action out of the corner of my eye.

Randy

[David DesRochers]

Great action. Getting both subjects that sharp at f/5 was quite a feat. They must have been very close to each other. The hand of man is not an issue for me. Hey, that's where they live.

[Kobus Tollig]

Great actio and light. Great shot here. Ditto the man element. Still well done

[Beth Goffe]

I'm not sure I've seen osprey nesting on a natural element (I've only been birding since 2006, though), so I don't find this platform distracting or out-of-the ordinary. The interaction is great between these two individuals but what I really find striking is the beautiful left wing of the lower bird.

[Arthur Morris]

Wonderful action and sharp. As I mentioned on the Hooptie-Deux--good seeing you again--you might wish to take some yellow out of the whites in Selective Color. For me, the butt-ugly metal nest platform ruins it.