An Osprey takes a bath, Perth Western Australia

[elefromoz]

We has breakfast at a riverside cafe this morning, as we were heading home one of the Dolphin families swam past.We carried on home, I dropped hubby off and got on my bike. I know the river pretty well and estimated that an hour or so should see them passing through "my" part of the river. I rode down to the sandbar and scanned the river for any sight of them. No sign yet, but as I was looking an Osprey flew over me and landed in the shallows.

 

No-one else took much notice, they probably thought it was just a giant Seagull! I, on the other hand was very excited, I love these birds and we are lucky enough to have a couple of pairs locally. Anyway a good wash was in order. First put your face in and shake it around

 

Then another dunk to rinse

 

Time to start on the wings now

 

Everything in and shake

 

Flap those wings

 

Backwards and forwards

 

A little jump to shake off the excess

 

Pump those wings

 

And we're off

 

 

Back to business now

 

My Dolphin friends showed up then, they were travelling slowly

 

 

This little baby having fun too, we have 4 Dolphin calves in the river system at the moment

 

I mentioned our Osprey pairs, this one in the Estuary nearby, very exciting, she is sitting on the nest and has been for nearly 4 weeks now.Chicks would be so exciting, a first for this pair.

 

She sits tight while he heads off for food

 

Occasionally he joins her, what a handsome couple

 

Yesterday the weather was shocking, she was hunkered down in the wind. Dad had caught dinner. I met a "birder" who had been visiting regularly and he said the male will eat the head then feed her the rest. She did call him a couple of times while he was eating, but he was obviously was enjoying it too much to share at that point.

 

 

Hopefully, over the next few weeks, Ill have some exciting news to share.

[offshorebirder]

Thanks for posting this @@elefromoz - that is a whopping great fish the male Osprey caught. Must be near his upper limit on prey size.

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@elefromoz

 

Thank you for sharing this series with Safaritalk.

It's a lesson in images — highly appreciated!

In a very general sense, where is this in Australia — the west, the east, the south?

Tom K.

[elefromoz]

@@offshorebirder, I hadn't really considered the implication of fish size, "food for thought". I do love it when I bump into a "birder" on the river and I can pick their brains, they always seem to enjoy sharing their endless knowledge.

 

@@Tom Kellie, I live in Perth, which is the capital of Western Australia. It is in the south-west corner of the state, built on the Swan River and its Estuary, population just shy of 2 million. Interestingly, I have just read an article that states our south wests "endemic biodiversity is 10 times larger than all of Europes and Russias combined".

 

Thanks for the compliment on the photos, I do wish 1) I had a "better" camera 2) I would be able to use it!

[Tom Kellie]

@@offshorebirder, I hadn't really considered the implication of fish size, "food for thought". I do love it when I bump into a "birder" on the river and I can pick their brains, they always seem to enjoy sharing their endless knowledge.

 

@@Tom Kellie, I live in Perth, which is the capital of Western Australia. It is in the south-west corner of the state, built on the Swan River and its Estuary, population just shy of 2 million. Interestingly, I have just read an article that states our south wests "endemic biodiversity is 10 times larger than all of Europes and Russias combined".

 

Thanks for the compliment on the photos, I do wish 1) I had a "better" camera 2) I would be able to use it!

 

~ @@elefromoz

 

You've done so well with your present equipment!

I never once considered that other camera gear might be needed, as your photos are terrific!

Thank you very much for explaining that your home is in Perth. Very glad to know that!

Perth's longitude is 115º 51' 32" E. Beijing's longitude is 116º 23' E. Thus we're almost directly north and south of one another.

Sunlight in Beijing at noon would be comparable sunlight in Perth at noon, were we not on opposite sides of the Equator.

Tom K.