Osprey Picture Gallery

The Osprey is a two-foot tall raptor that is sometimes confused with the much larger bald eagle. Both have white heads but only the osprey has white underneath. The osprey is also the only raptor that will dive into the water in order to catch fish. Nests built by ospreys are large structures and used year after year by the same pair which mate for life. These large birds seem to prefer their nests in the highest, most open point in an area and place them in dead trees, telephone poles and even man-made platforms (see below).

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel single lens reflex (dSLR) camera was employed for most of the bird photos below. It was equipped with a  Sigma zoom lens 200-500 mm, sometimes with a 1.4 tele-extender. All photos on the page are downsized and compressed for loading speed. The high resolution 6.3 megapixel images are archived offline.

A click on each picture brings up a larger image. Use your BACK button to return to this page.

Masters of flight, ospreys can hover, dive and soar with the best of them.		Osprey and fish at dusk.
The osprey can and will soar for great distances.
Osprey on man-made nest.	This is a familiar sight in osprey territory.
Ospreys will often perch on tall dead trees to survey the landscape.
Osprey and fish in tree.	Soaring and looking (L) and diving (R) for catch. In late spring young ospreys practice these maneuvers.
Man-made osprey nest.	Natural, tree-based osprey nest.