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Osprey and Offspring Part 2

Last post you were introduced to a mother and chick Osprey that we were able to shoot on our North Carolina trip in July 2014.  As luck would have it, we are still under a monsoon out here in the Midwest putting most of my planned outside work on hold, but still leaving plenty of worry as my 46′ free standing bridge over our creek is officially under water.  Not a lot I can do about that right now, hell, I can’t even get to it as the end is currently sitting 20 feet out from the water’s edge!  My fret is your gain allowing me extra time to crank out another bonus post.

Osprey and offspring from Outer Banks, North Carolina July 2014

This shouldn’t be a surprise if you noticed the last post title had a clue – that was not the only mother and chick Osprey sighting we were able to witness in Tarheel country. We were checking out the various sites in the Outer Banks area when we spotted something interesting in the parking lot of a restaurant. This eatery happened to sit on a water inlet and like the shots before, had a man made mast that had been claimed by another Osprey mother.

Osprey and offspring from Outer Banks, North Carolina July 2014

Hit the jump to see the rest of the shots from this second sighting – and  there’s a surprise!

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Osprey and Offspring Part 1

Welcome to Blog Bonus Time everyone!  Now that my mandatory post quota has been officially met, I can focus on burning down some of my backlog.  This is typically when I release post of birds that have already made their way on the blog – usually not as exciting as when I get to show off a new entry on my Birding List, however, there is always the chance I’ve been able to improve on images previously captured in the tin or even some new element that makes the repeat visit interesting as well.  The latter is exactly the case in this particular post.

Osprey and offspring from Outer Banks, North Carolina July 2014

For the non-birders out there, that is an Osprey.  A female Osprey to be more exact.  These skilled hunters have been featured a few times on the blog already – link here, here and here.  Before I go any further, let me just apologize for some really poor pictures on that last link from Yellowstone.  Those Osprey shots were done from a less than ideal distance and could have used a lot more light.  One advantage of having a photography related blog is you have the opportunity to look back at your body of work and be your own best critic.  I think  you will like these pictures much much better.

Osprey and offspring from Outer Banks, North Carolina July 2014

Hit the jump to read a bit more about this Osprey … and maybe a surprise!

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Except for that One with the Yellowy Eyes

I’m  in a bit of a clean up mode at the moment.  During the last couple of months of last year (wow, that seems so long ago as opposed to the reality of it being less than a month) the digital lab was working overtime trying to pop a number of items off the photo queue.  The thought of going 3 years behind was too much to take so gave it a scouts try to give me some buffer.  This meant there were a lot of posts prepped with all the shots worthy of posting from the processing blitz – all put in draft mode just waiting for the special day when they get the call to the big league.

Osprey on our Texas Birding Trip November 2013

Unfortunately, my prep work exceeded my publishing capability leaving me a basket full of potential posts.  Most of these were results of the Texas trip we took back in November 2013.  It is time to flush those out of the system or I am going to do something stupid like forget they are there – a total waste of the all the effort to get them to this point. So, as a step in the right direction, here is one of those drafts.
Osprey on our Texas Birding Trip November 2013

Hit the jump to see a few more shots of this killer.

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More from the Fort

The pressure is on now – definitely would have been a good time for a 31 day month.  To be honest, it is actually a bit difficult to type tonight.  I am in a battle with a 270 foot long 18 inch deep ditch I originally trenched a couple of months ago to supply power to a new outbuilding.  Since that original dig, I’ve had to hand dig across power and phones lines, re-dug the entire ditch by hand not once, not twice, but now three times due to rain and just spent all evening laying wire in conduit.  At least half of it is done now – damn you rain gods!

For tonight I thought I would go with some more shots from my Ft Myers trip.  Luckily these shots were already processed so the hard part is already done.  Let’s start with a gorgeous Brown Pelican.

Scenes from Ft. Myers May 2013

Pretty stoic bird all around.  As with the previous Ft. Myers shots, these were taken at the secret lagoon behind the Holiday Inn.  Wait.. I am not sure it is a Holiday Inn anymore.  My brother Ron may know for sure – he was just down there to see my parents and had an opportunity to visit that birding hotspot again – I would have went with him, but that was the weekend of my Marathon (link here).   These Pelican shots were taken on the backside of the lagoon on the ocean/gulf side –  you have to cross a small inlet of water, but it is definitely worth it.

Scenes from Ft. Myers May 2013

Hit the jump to see a few more birds from the trip.

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Phoadtography: Visiting Our Neighbors to the North Pt 1

There is no rest for the weary these days.  I can see the edge of October and it is approaching fast.  The good news is I am down to one more post after this one and I think that is doable … at the moment.   I ended up losing yesterday because I forgot to process all the pictures for this post.  Soooo last night was spent getting that done and uploading them to our Smugmug account (Eddiesoft) so I could post tonight.

Today’s entry is from our trip up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in early October.  Linda and the boys were competing in the Petit Prix, also known as the Teacup Dog Agility Association National’s.  Although I have really nothing to do with this since I neither train the dogs or run them in the ring, that doesn’t stop me from taking credit for how well they competed in the event.  Both Kerby and Rizzi came home with a pile of ribbons and Rizzi even made the Semi-Finals consisting of the top 84 dogs in the whole event.  Of course, there is a reason I get to take some credit…. I have to take off work and help Linda haul everything to and from the car and these toy dogs travel heavier than Paris Hilton.  The good news is Linda drove most of the way providing ample time to snap some shots along the way.  With that, let’s get to the pictures eh ? (in my best Wisconsin accent)

Keeping with the Halloween theme from the previous posts, I’ll start with these.  My eyes lit up when I saw this pumpkin.  Just imagine the cool pumpkin carving I could do with one of these babies.  It might take a chainsaw instead of a Dremel, but I’m definitely up for the challenge.

Hit the jump for the rest of the pictures from the trip

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