Rainbow Over Oak Run photo by Larry Jordan

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Immature Bald Eagle photos by Larry Jordan

And then the raptor took flight… (click on photo for full size image)

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Osprey Female At Nest photos by Larry Jordan

I went out to check on a local Osprey nest yesterday and took some photos of the adults and the nestlings.  It was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the female was shading the nestlings as they waited for the male to return with some fish.  (Click on images for full size photos)

Observing birds as a photographer, you soon realize that birds have an abundance of patience.  Especially nesting birds.

As the temperature cooled down a bit, the female Osprey decided to take a break and left the nestlings to their own devices.  One of the youngsters felt like it had some room to try out its wings.

This is typical behavior of raptors before attempting their first flight.  I shot a short video of this nestling as it jumped into the air, wings flapping, in a pre-flight practice over the nest.  They are getting very close to their maiden flights.

The nestlings create quite a ruckus, sometimes to the dismay of their siblings.  It can be quite amusing.

The male Osprey did show up briefly when the female was gone and dropped off a sashimi tidbit.  Then he took off again to the noisy insistence of the nestlings, presumably to resume fishing.

Note that the male (above) has a clean white breast whereas the female, in the photos below, has a dark “necklace.”  You will also notice that the nestlings eyes are orange, not yet turning to the adult yellow and their feathers are tipped with buff.  You may have also noticed those fish hook talons on the adult male!

The female returned after the male resumed his fishing duties, offering some shade to the nestlings

as they, once more, waited patiently for fresh fish from the nearby Sacramento River.

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Osprey Male In Nest photos by Larry Jordan

This is the male Osprey of the pair nesting atop the bridge I reported on at the end of March when they were mating.  I wanted to follow up on the pair and their nestlings, now almost exactly two months later.

When I arrived I saw one of the adults standing on the edge of the nest as I drove under it.   By the time I had parked the car and walked out on the bridge with my camera, it had flown so I concluded that they were no longer brooding the nestlings.

According to Birds of North America Online, both parents incubate the eggs but the female does the brooding, which is continuous for the first couple of weeks, then intermittent for a couple more.

Osprey may lay from 1 to 4 eggs but most of the time three, laid at two to three day intervals.  The eggs are incubated for a month.  So if this pair laid three eggs beginning on April 1st, the nestlings would be about four weeks old.

When this male flew back into the nest and looked around, he looked down at one point and shifted position.  Like he was tending to nestlings, unseen by me.

Then he took off and I got a descent in-flight shot of him (my first in-flight digiscoped shot) although he was quite far off.

You can see in this flight shot that this is the male because he lacks the darker, more obvious necklace seen on the female in the previous post.

I observed no nestlings in the hour and a half I was there and the adult bird only visited the nest twice.  Neither visit was for feeding the young.  I was hoping they would pop their little heads up so I could see how many there were but no luck.

I will take another trip to the bridge soon.  In the meantime, check out the other great Skywatch Friday posts.

Calliope Hummingbird photos by Larry Jordan

The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest bird breeding in North America at a mere 3 1/4 inches in size.  I discovered these beauties when I went out to try and get some photos of the Rufous Hummingbirds I had seen at the feeders.

This female is so small, she half disappears as she enters a flower of the Sapphire Dragon tree blooming next to the feeder.  She is distinguished from the Rufous Hummingbird by her smaller size and wings which extend beyond her shorter, square tipped tail.

The buff color on her sides is lighter than on the Rufous Hummingbird and, if you look at the top photo you can see that, in front of her eye there is a dark spot, then a pale line that goes over the base of her bill.  Compare this to the perched Rufous Hummingbird female below.

Also the pattern of spots on the throat of the Calliope Hummingbird are smaller and more evenly distributed than those on the Rufous Hummingbird, but the facial pattern seems to me to be the most distiguishing difference for identification of the female.

The male Calliope Hummingbird, on the other hand, is easily identified by his gorget.

The male hummingbird gorget (pronounced gawr-jit, meaning “armor for the throat”) is arguably his most spectacular attribute.  The male Calliope Hummingbird’s gorget shows purple-red rays spreading out below his beak against an all white background.

Those feathers can also be folded like a dark inverted “V” on his throat.

He is the only hummingbird in the U.S. with this gorget pattern.

That iridescent green crown really makes him quite the jewel too, doesn’t it?

I found an incredible photo by Wally Rufous of the Calliope Hummingbird in a courtship display of his gorget.  You can see it here.  It is absolutely amazing!

Go check out the other posts at IATB #124 and Skywatch Friday!