A New Experience

River Gawash - 30/31.7.2022

I've always wanted to photograph Osprey's a summer visitor to the UK but I could never contemplate the long seven hour drive up to the Scottish Highlands, but wait there's another option Rutland, and it's only just over an hour and a half dive...cracking !

A new experience for me, Osprey's in flight in low light ! all the wrong conditions you would say to get any decent images but I'm prepared to give it a go. I'm at River Gawash Trout Fisheries located a couple of miles from Rutland Water which has a population of re-introduce Ospreys breeding in the surrounding area, the fisheries under an agreement with local wildlife groups allow the Ospreys to take fish from a single un-netted lake, the fisheries in-turn have provided a hide charging photographers for the privilege.

I have two sessions arranged, one Saturday evening and another on Sunday morning. The evening session starts in not so good light pushing the ISO high, very high so I decide to use try the 70-200mm f2.8 wide open to get some reasonable settings, of coarse at 200mm is way too short, anyway after a couple of visits I begin to understand what's required, here's a few images.

Sunday morning is an early 4.15am start and it's still dark ! only at 6.30am the light is reasonable but the wind is such that when an Osprey makes a dive it fly's off into the wind in the opposite direction...hey ho ! but I did manage some nice images of a juvenile Kingfisher to ease the disappointment.

 

Osprey

Kingfisher - juvenile