Osprey

I drove down Rentenaar Road on Sauvie Island on Saturday and took these Osprey shots via the moon roof on my car. I've seen several Osprey already this Spring; several sightings at Coffee Lake Creek on Grahams Ferry Road near Wilsonville.

Osprey

I walked the full loop around TRNWR on Sunday afternoon for the first time in a few weeks. Things tend to be a little slow along the Western side and that was the case again. But as I approached the Southwest corner, I noticed a large bird land on a utility pole on the other side of the canal. As I got a little closer, I could see through my lens that it was an Osprey. It's the first Osprey I've seen at TRNWR.
As I approached the Southern leg of the loop, I was a bit surprised that the Osprey hadn't flown off. But once I positioned myself to get a better view of the bird, I could see that it was eating a fish that it had caught.
I stood there for almost 15 minutes watching it eat that fish all the way down to its tail. And once the fish was gone, the Osprey flew off.

Osprey

The 400mm lens I rented has advantages and disadvantages. It's advantages are apparent, 400mm with a f2.8 aperture. It has a lot of reach and great light gathering abilities. Unfortunately, it is also about 12 lbs and has no VR. In order to support and steady it, I use a monopod. This works quite well for birds at or about eye level, but it gets increasing difficult the higher or lower its position.
I was walking through Jackson Bottom Wetlands when I saw the Osprey above flying overhead. This seemed like a great opportunity, but instead of my light weight 300mm lens, I had the 12 lb behemoth. Not one to pass up an opportunity, I lifted the lens and monopod up off the ground and pointed it overhead at the Osprey. At the moment there was a mix of blue sky and light gray clouds so exposure was a concern, but since this was all happening so fast, there wasn't any time for anything but shoot or loose the opportunity. Needless to say I wasn't optimistic that the pictures would turn out, so it came as a pleasant surprise when I saw many had turned out very nicely.