Creative Bird Photography by Bill Coster

Author:Bill Coster
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: PHO018000
ISBN: 9781553659327
Publisher: Greystone Books
Published: 2010-03-27T04:00:00+00:00

OSPREY

(Pandion haliaetus)

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, 400mm f4 lens, tripod, 1/1,600th sec @ f8, digital ISO 400

Finland

Of course, nest shots don’t have to be static. When the young have hatched and grown a little, the parent birds often leave the nest for a short break, frequently settling on a perch nearby so that they can still keep an eye on the nest itself and return quickly should danger threaten. This can certainly liven up an otherwise rather quiet day at a nest site, and gives the opportunity for the photographer to make much more dynamic images.

I had been in a tower hide overlooking the Osprey nest pictured above since 5 a.m. and certainly for the first few hours there was little activity. The male was away fishing and the female was sitting tight on the nest with her two chicks. I was waiting for the male to return with some food because I thought that this would make for some great pictures, but there was still no sign of him. It wasn’t only me that was getting a little tired waiting for him, though – the female was also becoming increasingly restless on the nest. She would stand up and look around as if willing her partner to arrive, but in the end she got fed up and flew off the nest. She didn’t go far, just a few metres away to the top of an old dead pine tree close to the nest.

This was my opportunity and I watched her carefully, as I knew she would return to the nest at some point and that would be the shot I wanted. I can’t remember exactly how long she took before returning to the nest, but it seemed an age. One of the biggest problems when waiting for something to happen like this is that you need to be constantly alert, even when there appears to be nothing happening. Reach for a sandwich or a much-needed drink, and you could miss the shot you’ve waited for all day. When she took off from her perch I was ready for her and panned with her as she stretched open her wings and stretched her legs downwards to land. Finally, I could relax and eat that sandwich!

This Osprey nest was on a relatively low dead pine tree and had been used for many years. It was out in the open with the forest far behind, which gave an excellent uncluttered background to the bird. With the background so far away I could stop down to f8 to increase the depth of field without the background becoming intrusive. Due to the bright conditions and the paleness of the bird, I could still shoot at 1/1,600th of a second and give myself a better chance of getting all of the bird in focus using f8.

FEEDING THE YOUNG

Finding enough food to keep their young growing takes up most of the parents’ time once the chicks have hatched, and as the babies get bigger, so do their appetites.

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