Scenes from the River 3

If you have never seen a mock orange, here is what the fruit looks like. They will put a serious hurt on you if one happens to fall on you. They are solid, hard and probably weigh close to half-a-pound a piece. You can't eat them, but I'm told they were used as a natural insect repellant at one time to keep bugs out of closets. The tree overhangs the water so when one of those falls, it really makes a splash.

Seagulls don't get much respect, but I always enjoy watching them on the river. Especially when they are actively hunting for fish. They can be very acrobatic and graceful. I don't know how this bird is going to be able to choke down that fish. If you look closely, you will see the fish is much bigger than it may look at a glance. I have only seen them swallow a fish in one gulp. I have never seen them tear one in pieces like an Osprey and eat it. I'm not sure whether they do that or not. They do not have the little downturned "nail" at the end of their bill like raptors do, so I'm guessing they cannot tear a fish. That would be a good question for Siri, but I don't know her...

I don't know how the chicks would act toward other non-family members, but the sibling rivalry is pretty serious. There are known cases of one sibling killing another in the nest before they can even fly with the mother looking on and doing nothing. As a human, it is hard to wrap your head around that kind of scene.

Sometimes you don't even have to hardly get wet. This adult shows the babies how it is done. You would be surprised how much wind has to do with a photo like this. The Osprey will always face into the wind, so to see the Osprey from the front, the wind has to be at your back.

I always prefer it when birds fly through the trees as opposed to featureless sky. On a bright day, to have the right kind of light on the bird, you have to set the camera in such a way that the background gets blown out. A cloudy day is actually better for getting some color in the sky.