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Welcome
to Brazos Bend State Park. That's me on the trail at BBSP in August of
2019. One of the most popular
reasons for people to visit BBSP is to see the birds. I've
collected my captures of Ospreys here.
There is only one species of Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, and they live all over the world!
Update 01/26/2024 - 01/20/2024
I went to Fiorenza Park, because it was sunny, and I wanted to see if
there were any effects from the recent cold weather. I didn't stay for
long,
because it was still pretty cold. But there are always birds there, and
of course, possibly Bald Eagles. No Eagles on this day,
though.
A little while later, I found an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
perched on a tree. I walked towards it, and it flew to another tree.
Then
I watched it for about an hour. Almost every
time I've visited this park, I have at least seen an Osprey. Sometimes
the
contact is pretty close, and sometimes it's far away.
05/29/2023 (uploaded 3/21/2024)
At Fiorenza Park North. An
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) was on one of the branches hanging over the water. I often hear
the calls of Ospreys when I
visit
this park. This one had a fish. So, I watched it for about 40 minutes
as it ate. This first batch of images show the Osprey moving the fish by lifting it with one of its marvelous talons as it
ate the carcass.
After
the Osprey finished, it cleaned its beak by rapidly rubbing it on the
branch it was standing on. It made several passes, rubbing one side of
its face, then the other-in a motion similar
that resembled
honing-on the branch. The images below are frames from video showing
just one pass on each side. This is all on the video here.
I left before the Osprey did.
After cleaning its face, it rested on the branch. Something in the
water must have caught its attention, and I thought I might get to see
it dive. The Osprey didn't
leap. But, I captured its head movements
as it focused on something below. The images below are frames from the
video showing it moving its head side-to-side, possibly to shift the focus
of its binocular vision. This is all on the video here.
02/09/2023
I
took the ramp off of Westpark Tollway to go to Fiorenza Park North. An
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) was on one of the street lights overlooking
the ramp,
found a
place to park, and started taking pictures and video. I often hear
the calls of Ospreys when I visit this park. But I many times, I can't
find the one that's calling because its voice carries
far. I was
lucky this morning. I also got a close look at the Osprey's
technique while it swiftly cut pieces from this fish. The
images
below are frames from the
video clips. One segment
shows how far away I was from
the Osprey, and why it seemed to ignore my presence (the first three
images below). It also shows how far the sound of the chirps
can
carry. The hook on the
end of the beak worked well for
cutting into the fish, while side-to-side twists cut and pulled the
meat.
Ospreys
are the only species in the family Pandionidae (separate from the other
raptors, like hawks, eagles, falcons). They live in regions
all over
the world. Their diet is almost exclusively fish.
They
can swivel their outer toes so they point backwards. This allows
a "pincer" to form, with 2 talons on each side. This arrangement
allows a
stronger, balanced grip on prey.
Owls are
the only other birds of prey that can do this.
I've found many references
to the Osprey's calls; but few
indications of what the calls are for. "Communicative
Behavior
in Breeding Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus): Description and
Relationship of Signals to Life History (V. Bretagnolle and
J. Thibault 1993)"
had the most detail.But sometimes the purpose of a
movement or sound is not clear to human observers.
The Osprey
scanned the sky around it, and then called again. Was it
claiming
territory? Or warning others away from the fish? As
usual
with the animals I observe, the Osprey would not tell
me. I left the Osprey to
finish its breakfast. Again, here's the link to the
video clips.
04/15/2018 . At
Brazos Bend State Parkout it was nearly 60 � F. I was
walking
along the West Loop of the Elm Lake trail, when I saw an Osprey
(Pandion haliaetus) in one of the dead trees
on the island.
The Osprey was about 75 yards away, so I stopped and started
filming at 480 fps, hoping to catch it taking off. I did! And was able
to crop a nice video from the
original capture. The images below are frame grabs from the
video, which can be seen at
this link. The video shows in great detail the flight
mechanics of the Osprey taking off. I spend a lot of time
at
a park nearer downtown Houston, and I almost always see an Osprey
there, but they are relatively rare sight at BBSP. It was a
wonderful morning!
On
the
next day, 11/30/2008, I was at Brazos Bend State park. I hadn't been
there
very long before I met Chuck, another of the park Volunteers. He told
me
that I'd just missed an Bald Eagle
flying over by about 5 minutes. Just
a few minutes later, I noticed an Osprey over by the islands on 40 Acre
Lake. We watched the Osprey hunting for quite a while. I snapped
pictures,
and shot
some video clips. At one point, the Osprey dove into the
water,
and we thought that it caught a fish.
On
examining
the photos, however, it was found that the "fish" appeared to be a
stick
or piece of bark. What happened? Why did the Osprey "capture" it, and
then
afterwards, why did the Osprey
continue carrying it? Today's
RICKUBISCAM
shot is one of the photos of the Osprey flying off with the piece of
wood.
Below
are two more pictures of the Osprey flying with the stick.
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OSPREY
AND STICK
1
OSPREY AND STICK
2
FRAMEGRAB
01
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FRAMEGRAB
02
FRAMEGRAB
03
RICKUBISCAM SHOT
This
camera can shoot photos at an incredibly fast rate, and also can
capture
video clips at high framerates. During one of the Osprey's
passes
above me, I decided to film it flying by at 210 frames
per second
(FPS).
A few frames from the video clip can be seen as captured frames above.
The video video clip of
this
Osprey flying by can be seen here
(wmv 8.5 mb).
Added
03/07/06: On Feb. 26, I was able to watch an Osprey
hunting
over 40 Acre Lake. It usually didn't get very close, but the 25x
optical
zoom on the camcorder brings it close
enough to see.
The
image below (OSPREY PASSING) is a frame from this short
video clip (wmv 5676kb) of the Osprey. This new digital
camcorder captures
"interleaved" video
frames, which makes taking single frames from the
video
very difficult.
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OSPREY PASSING
BY
RED SHOULDERED
HAWK
IT SEES ME
We
were
able to watch the Osprey for a while, and it would do the "hover"
maneuver
shown in the clip from time to time. The Osprey appears to be watching
intently
while hovering. We did see the Osprey dive, but it was on the other
side
of the island. It came up with a fish, and ate it on a treetop.
On
March
5th, I didn't get to
see the Eagle (OK, maybe
not "the" Eagle, but perhaps one of the Eagles), but I saw a number of
Red-Shouldered Hawks before I went inside to present a
program. I got a
few good photos of one of them. The pictures above (RED SHOULDERED, and
IT SEES ME) are cropped from the best one.
I'm
not a "birder", that is, a person with a strong interest in birds. I
believe
I've stated that here before. But, like many people, I'm awed by the
beauty,
majesty and power of the raptors. Where; ANYWHERE;
can one go to
see so many types of wild raptors actively hunting in their natural
home?
It's
been terrific!
October
26, 2002Another
rather cool, wet weekend. I was on Galveston Island saturday,
and
while I was working on a PC belonging to my significant other, I heard
an odd screeching outside.
Donna looked out the window, and exclaimed "That's
an Osprey!" So, I looked out, and saw one flying into the wind, and
sort
of hovering from time to time. We went out the back door, and
saw
that the one making the sound was holding what appeared to be a small
fish
in its talons. This flapping/hovering/calling went on for a few
minutes,
and then I saw another osprey behind and
below it. The first osprey then
flew up, circled back, and then seemed to be trying to overtake the
second
osprey. This went on for a while, with both birds flying into the wind
for a while, then slowly
gliding back, and with that circling around behavior.
Donna went back inside to continue her project. I started
back to
the car for my camera. Then, a short while later, the osprey with the
fish
circled back and then flew directly over me, slowly, about 30
feet
high, and then over the house! 'What an excellent picture
this would
make!". I thought. Yes, EXCELLENT! Unfortunately, I'd only
STARTED
towards the car for my camera when this happened, and so I could only
watch
the osprey as my camera relaxed quietly in my car.
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OSPREY
OVERHEAD!
FLYING FISH!
I
hurried
to the car and returned with the camera. The osprey made another pass,
though not as close. This time, I was able to get a short video clip
with
the Olympus C-700. The image above
(FLYING FISH) is a frame from this video.
The two groups of 5 images below are sequences also taken from the
video
clip. Click here
to
see the video clip. (flv
video 280kb)
Sometime later,
we were driving from Donna's house, when we saw a solitary
osprey on top of a power line pole. I stopped the car, and tried to get
close enough to get a picture. The pole was too high for this,
though,
and even with the 10x optical zoom on my camera, the pictures didn't
come
out well; especially against the bright grey sky. However, as
I slowly
moved closer, the osprey cried once..
.then twice...another time or so,
and then it took off, and flew over me. That's when I took this picture
(OSPREY OVERHEAD!, above). Next time will be better.
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IMAGE
SEQUENCE
2A
2B
2C
2D
2E
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IMAGE
SEQUENCE
3A
3B
3C
3D
3E
If you'd like to know more about the park follow these links:
Brazos Bend State Park The main page.
Brazos
Bend State Park Volunteer's Page The
volunteer's main page.
Go back to my home page, Welcome
to rickubis.com
Go
back to the RICKUBISCAM
page.
Go
back to the See
the World
page.
