I know this osprey quite well. This osprey has made his nest with
his mate in the same spot in a very large county park in St.
Petersburg, FL adjacent to a parking lot where I often park when I
do a training session on my bike. The regulars call him “Fleck”
due to a fleck at the 7 o’clock position of his right eye. I often
photograph him and on this day, I was photographing an owls nest
about a mile away and stopped by to see if their was any action at
the osprey nest. I found him sitting on a power line with a fish
and knowing that he is uncomfortable around people and other
birds when he has caught a fish, I readied my camera for action.
He did not disappoint and took off towards his adjacent nest and I
started firing my camera. I filmed a complete sequence in which
the bird landed on the nest and fed the fish to his waiting mate
which the locals have named Jewel. When I got home and was
uploading my images, I almost fell off my chair when I saw that I
had made this amazing capture of the bird with his wings in the
so-called angel wing position, making direct eye contact t with me
and clutching a fish in one talon - a one in a million capture!!
Awards Published in numerous magazines such as "Popular Photography" and "Outdoor Photographer." Winner of numerous photo contests including a Best of Show at the 31st annual Boyd Hill competition contested in 7 divisions. Selected for my work to tour both in the UK and Greece in 2015.
