Another Wild Blog: Light at the end of the.......

24-70mm f/2.8 Lens shot at 24mm, 1/13 second @f/22, ISO-3,200

I love where I live, I love the seasons.....

There is a glimmer of light at the end of this winter tunnel! Spring is just around the corner. It's nearly the end of Jan. Wildlife are out there today..it's just not the same as that early morning. It started at about 4:03 a.m.

A short drive from Jackson Hole, Wyoming was a steep hike up the mountain to my pre- determined spot. The objective was not to disturb the birds. Not just any bird. An Osprey family. Mom and three teens (teens defined by "get out the nest it's time for you to leave"). An Osprey's eyesight is superman times ten. Unbelievable! I'll get to that in a minute. The mountain climb was only about 1/4 mile. Yet so steep I literally used hands and feet at times to progress upward. Thanks to my MP-3 Photo-pack , my hands were free. No moonlight to help I stumbled a lot. I had to be as quiet as possible. My route up the mountain had to be one of stealth. The last thing I wanted was to go to this effort and have the birds freak out. It took about an hour to get to my nest. I was eye level to the Osprey nest but a good distance away. My pre-planned trip was a success thus far. Except the sun had not risen yet. I had to stay as motionless as possible. It was cold. Especially after the sweaty hike up. As the light soon rimmed the mountains I could see the birds. They were motionless and somewhat huddled in the middle of the nest. I could not yet make out the parent from the youth. Just before the sunlight broke over the mountain ridges the adult flew off. The young watched as it flew down the canyon. I took several photographs of the young but they were mostly facing away from me. Just like teenagers they were all over the nest, jumping and testing their wings. A lot of youthful energetic gestures.

I guess one method for adult birds of prey to invite their young out of the nest is to bring in twigs and branches. The idea is to make the nest not very comfortable. (On my website I have a photograph of the adult bringing in a big branch. It did this several times.) After some time the adult flew back to the nest. As just mentioned it dropped of a big stick. I was real proud of myself for not disrupting their habitat, home and psyche. Until the adult landed. Like I had set of a bomb, or stood and while waving my arms yelled "hey stupid look at me", the adult stared me down, barking like a skinned dog encouraging the kids to stare me down also. I had not even flinched. My firing hand would raise to take the pictures. Killer eyesight is understatement. Ok! no fat head jokes! It was incredible. I was not moving except my firing finger. I was getting cramps in my finger and all my phobias! I had sat motionless too long! Osprey make sounds that I have never heard before. I really expected the adult to attack. If looks could kill I would not be writing this blog tonight. (click on the picture below and check out the eyes) It was serious. Now I had to get back down the mountain with out disturbing the little bird family. It turns out the antics was like a bear charging (a story for another day), or Penny offering me candy that she made but won't eat herself. "Make a move buddy or your dead!" I was fortunate to take a lot of photographs that day. My knowledge base of wild animals behavior doubled.

So I am looking for that light at the end of the tunnel. Spring. When new life abounds and we photographers are "Giddy".