Tips for shooting diving Osprey

[Warren D]

If its the river Gwash hide at Rutland UK I can confirm its really tricky there. Its a working Trout farm , they have an Osprey or two visit there every year after the Trout . The visits from the birds can vary and you only get a few hours early morning or evening in this paid for hide . Sometimes you may only get one bird visit and one dive during your visit , also they may come in and dive from behind the hide depending on the wind direction. The hide opening viewing window is small and awkward ,its extremely difficult to follow the bird in such restricted conditions and you often get little chance to manoeuvre the lens in time . Its also in a valley so lighting can be bad , last time I went I was at ISO8000-12800 1/1000-1600 with my A1 200-600 , I also took my D850 300mm f2.8 but the A1 was much better suited for it despite the much slower lens .
Best I got with the D850 was auto AF , it missed quite a few but I thought it did better than group , anyway good luck.

In a location like that, it would help if you could find out how many nests are in the area. From there you can take a wild guess as to how many might show up. My experience is with coastal New England (USA) osprey so your mileage may vary! The ones I'm familiar with will usually eat about twice a day, in the morning and late afternoon. This can vary depending on the size of fish and how successful their fishing trips are. When they are here, they are here to reproduce and the male will fish for the female who, after laying eggs, will spend most of her time on the nest incubating. That time frame is good for about 2 successful dives per male per day. If there are 5 nests in the area, that's not much action. Once the little ones hatch, the demands on the male increase and as they grow, each chick can eat a fish or two per day. Thus, more dives! Finding out when the eggs hatch and waiting 30-45 days should get you the best odds of getting dives.
Osprey repeat behavior, so as long as they can get fish, they will come back to the same place to get it. They do fly up to 10 miles when they fish but like all raptors, they prefer to get their groceries close to home!

 

[tigger4t]

In a location like that, it would help if you could find out how many nests are in the area. From there you can take a wild guess as to how many might show up. My experience is with coastal New England (USA) osprey so your mileage may vary! The ones I'm familiar with will usually eat about twice a day, in the morning and late afternoon. This can vary depending on the size of fish and how successful their fishing trips are. When they are here, they are here to reproduce and the male will fish for the female who, after laying eggs, will spend most of her time on the nest incubating. That time frame is good for about 2 successful dives per male per day. If there are 5 nests in the area, that's not much action. Once the little ones hatch, the demands on the male increase and as they grow, each chick can eat a fish or two per day. Thus, more dives! Finding out when the eggs hatch and waiting 30-45 days should get you the best odds of getting dives.
Osprey repeat behavior, so as long as they can get fish, they will come back to the same place to get it. They do fly up to 10 miles when they fish but like all raptors, they prefer to get their groceries close to home!

The local population is well monitored and documented by the local wildlife trust and the good people at Horn Mill Trout Farm know their Ospreys' habits inside out and can tell you how individual birds may behave. On average people will see about 5 dives a session but, as it's wildlife, that can also be zero or 12. It's a challenging shoot but very enjoyable - I would certainly recommend it to UK members.

 

[tigger4t]

I shoot a lot of diving ospreys due to every time I go out there are so many at my local small lake. I don’t use a hide as ospreys are usually not bothered by people at all in New Jersey. I shoot with 600mm f4 on a tripod or sometimes handheld. I now use a z9 but used a d850 for years doing the same. My settings for this are usually 1/2500 f4 auto iso using exposure compensation as needed. With my d850 I used group autofocus set to lock on 5. The trick is to keep the ospreynin the lower portion of the group autofocus so the water doesn’t get hit first and the focus jump to that. Now with the z9 I’ll use wide area or auto af with animal detection. If you look at my instagram ( rjdanegerous ) all those ospreys were shot with the above settings.View attachment 60338

Thanks for the advice - that image is stunning !

 

[luckmurph]

The local population is well monitored and documented by the local wildlife trust and the good people at Horn Mill Trout Farm know their Ospreys' habits inside out and can tell you how individual birds may behave. On average people will see about 5 dives a session but, as it's wildlife, that can also be zero or 12. It's a challenging shoot but very enjoyable - I would certainly recommend it to UK members.

I’m booked in for 2 evening sessions first week of June!

 

[tigger4t]

I’m booked in for 2 evening sessions first week of June!

I think the evenings are booked until August now so I'll try some morning sessions in June.

 

[agrumpyoldsod]

Added Horne Mill to my Map of photo places -- it is near to me than my normal spots in Aviemore.

 

[Patty15]

I always find Ospreys challenging. Here in western PA we have lots around, I sometimes joke they're like Dollar General Stores, a nest on every corner. Blinds are not necessary on any of the lakes and rivers around here where they fish. I made an attempt at trying to catch a diving one last year, it's not the best, shot with my D850 and a 500mm PF lens. I'd like to try again with my Z9, but the opportunity hasn't presented itself. They have eggs in their nests now, when they get to feeding little ones the fishing/diving opportunities will become more plentiful.

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[Dave Douglass]

I have an opportunity to go and try my osprey action photography luck at a friend's small pond that they regularly see them hunting, and taking fish. It's a very small pond (40 yards-long dimension) that has a large tree right on its shore that is their favorite osprey perch for hunting. I plan on setting up close to the pond's water-level height on a small folding stool with my monopod and Z9/200-500 lens about 40 yds from where I anticipate the side view action at 1/3200th (light permitting). I'm told by a heavy-hitter, osprey studying, birder friend that I won't really need a ground blind at that distance. My concern is not only getting some in-frame, in focus action shots but not having the AF grab the 20-30 yards away background. As soon as the weather clears up I plan on trying my luck by starting with going there the first hour or so after sunrise that the males like to hunt, I'm told by my osprey buddy. Do you have any sage advice for success IF I should happen to see some action?

 

[JoelKlein]

I always find Ospreys challenging. Here in western PA we have lots around, I sometimes joke they're like Dollar General Stores, a nest on every corner. Blinds are not necessary on any of the lakes and rivers around here where they fish. I made an attempt at trying to catch a diving one last year, it's not the best, shot with my D850 and a 500mm PF lens. I'd like to try again with my Z9, but the opportunity hasn't presented itself. They have eggs in their nests now, when they get to feeding little ones the fishing/diving opportunities will become more plentiful. View attachment 60551

Nice shot!
Your shutter is kinda low… you must have amazing panning skills.

Btw, where is western PA? I’m about an hour away from PA claws and paws zoo.

 

[Patty15]

Nice shot!
Your shutter is kinda low… you must have amazing panning skills.

Btw, where is western PA? I’m about an hour away from PA claws and paws zoo.

Thanks! Back-button focusing always saved my butt in shots like this, since with DSLR, it locked on the subject rather well.

We're on the border next to Ohio, north of Pittsburgh. Lots of Ospreys here around Beaver, Lawrence, Mercer, Butler, and Erie Counties to name a few. All an Osprey needs is water nearby and a high place to nest. They love the electric transmission towers here. Lake areas to check out are Lake Wilhelm, Shenango Lake, Pymatuning as well as the Beaver River. I have two active nests within about 5 miles from my home. We also have lots of Bald Eagles. Great place for raptor photography.

 

[JoelKlein]

Thanks! Back-button focusing always saved my butt in shots like this, since with DSLR, it locked on the subject rather well.

We're on the border next to Ohio, north of Pittsburgh. Lots of Ospreys here around Beaver, Lawrence, Mercer, Butler, and Erie Counties to name a few. All an Osprey needs is water nearby and a high place to nest. They love the electric transmission towers here. Lake areas to check out are Lake Wilhelm, Shenango Lake, Pymatuning as well as the Beaver River. I have two active nests within about 5 miles from my home. We also have lots of Bald Eagles. Great place for raptor photography.

Thanks!
Seems that PA is BIG!
It’s about 6 hours drive from Monroe NY

 

[Patty15]

Thanks!
Seems that PA is BIG!
It’s about 6 hours drive from Monroe NY

Welcome! We're rather spread out. I don't get east much. I've been to Williamsport and that's about it. Most places I visit are within a few hours from home and we do day trips. So much to see here, from the Elk in Benezette to the Bald Eagles and other raptors all over.

 

[agrumpybirdphotographer]

I find shooting Osprey from inside a hide (most often in Aviemore) the first one knows about it is when the bird has hit the water. One then "finds" is that the bird most often tries to take off into the wind - and it is muggins chance is your hide is in the best location for the bird that has just splashed down in front of you. In my last trip - we had ONE birds dive and catch in a whole DAY. You can see some images HERE: 2022 08 15 Osprey and a Heron shoot

If you are shooting from a hide -- you must have someone acting as a spotter on a radio to tell you when a bird is approaching and "stooping" which precedes a dive.

The LENS and settings you need depend on your distance to the likely place the bird will fish for my trip I used a 400mm and it worked great on a Z9. As to settings - this depends on the available light - but I used ¹⁄₁₆₀₀ sec at ƒ - 4.0 - ISO 500 - 0 EV

Most shooters who catch a bird diving are not in a hide (look at Mark Smith's videos on YouTube)

When I shoot Birds of Prey Diving you have to catch them when they Stoop (or Hover) just before they dive and then track them down saving your shots until they are close to their target or the water.

Yip been there Andy, Rothiemurchus 2021 two days total hide time 16 hours 5 dives and one failed camera!

Brilliant to watch but can be so, so frustrating and from a hide not a lot of chance to capture images of the bird entering the water only exiting with or without fish.

 

[Danforth]

have a new tripod and gimble, on my bucket list

 

[Patty15]

Yip been there Andy, Rothiemurchus 2021 two days total hide time 16 hours 5 dives and one failed camera!

Brilliant to watch but can be so, so frustrating and from a hide not a lot of chance to capture images of the bird entering the water only exiting with or without fish.

Since we're lucky enough to not need a blind to photograph them, they tend to fish in lakes and rivers here that are full of fishermen all along the shores, we can have full view of everything they do. But, even so, catching that dive can be tricky. You need to recognize the signs. Here they'll fly overhead and watch the water. They'll seem to kind of stop in flight, feet lowered, head and eyes downward, then zoom, down they go. They're pretty fast, before your brain can even register it you see/hear the splash. And if you watch, when they exit the water the fish will always be facing front. Someone told me it was all about aerodynamics. I once watched/photographed one take two tries to get out of the water. At first I was concerned that perhaps fishing line was involved, but no he just needed to get that fish situated properly. It's all pretty amazing.

 

[agrumpyoldsod]

The issue we had was a dominant male who drove away other birds from the fishery. The one dive we had and I shot was of him - Google Osprey Blue AU6 and you will see he was born in 2012 in Conon Bridge, Ross-shire.

 

[Vicintheshed]

I am also going to be at River Gwash trout farm, evening session early June. Have done the Aviemore Ospreys (not Rothiemurcus) some years ago. Frustrating and fascinating at the same time.

 

[arbitrage]

My only problem is that the ocean fed lagoon they fish in near me is very large and you have to get lucky they dive close to you. Sometimes they hunt from the air and some of the birds like to hunt from perches. I prefer the perch hunters as I just setup below the perch or paddle my kayak in front of them and wait. Tracking them down isn't too difficult when you aren't constrained by a blind. Even handholding a 600/4 in my kayak is doable for nailing the dive, entry and exit.

May 14, 2022.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
July 01, 2022.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
August 14, 2022-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
July 25, 2021.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
July 25, 2021.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
July 25, 2021-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr

 

[Mdf123]

Add patience and luck to the suggestions previously given. I have been looking to get an image of an Osprey diving and looking at the camera right before impact with the water. In addition to all the issues related to keeping these birds properly framed to get this image the Osprey must abort the dive immediately before it hits the water. Finally, today it happened. Maybe next time he wont be flying directly into the sun and the image will come out a little

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better (or I could learn how to edit images).

 

[Patty15]

Add patience and luck to the suggestions previously given. I have been looking to get an image of an Osprey diving and looking at the camera right before impact with the water. In addition to all the issues related to keeping these birds properly framed to get this image the Osprey must abort the dive immediately before it hits the water. Finally, today it happened. Maybe next time he wont be flying directly into the sun and the image will come out a littleView attachment 61274 better (or I could learn how to edit images).

A little more contrast or darkening to bring him out more? But other than that, you caught him well. It's always a challenge to get the Ospreys diving. They are speedy bullets for sure.

 

[luckmurph]

Just got back from 2 sessions at the River Gwash osprey hide, my first time going there, loved every minute, had quite a few dives from a few different ospreys plus this bonus Red kite, just need to edit my pictures now.....which could take a while!! i found the z70-200 with the 1.4tc 2500 auto iso

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worked best for me!

 

[EricBowles]

Just based on your misses and settings, I'll reinforce the following from comments above:

• Group AF is correct with the D850. It largely eliminates missed focus and picking up the background.
• Make sure you are able to focus on the bird in the sky before it starts to dive. It may help to pre-focus near the correct distance. You'll never pick up a diving bird reliably if you can't focus on it before it dives.
• Use the AF points just below the center. Those are still cross sensors and will focus faster than regular sensors.
• The AF Lock On setting is tricky. Setting it to a Quicker choice means it picks up a subject more quickly, but if you can't keep it in the AF area selected, it will more quickly find an alternate subject. Setting it to Slower means it is slower to lose a subject once you have focused on it when it temporarily leaves the sensor group.
• Practice on subjects in the sky other than osprey before the shoot. You won't develop a skill with a day every now and then. Practice on common birds - pelicans, pigeons or gulls. You need to be expert at focusing on a bird in the sky before you graduate to diving birds.