Osprey taking a fish out

One of the better shots I have seen on this forum. Just out of curiosity, was it baited?

Wow, Joe, I hate to just join in on the long "list" but it's an awesome shot!!

Thanks everyone.

@BirdBoy This is a well known location in Scotland. The Ospreys in the area started stealing from a fish farm years ago. Instead of trying to stop the birds, the estate built hides and started selling time to the likes of the BBC, pros, and wannabes such as me. The fish are there in the pool, and the Ospreys are nicking them. The only baiting is of the fish ... some feed is put down to draw them to a location that suits our position relative to the wind, with the hope that the birds will face us - works about half of the time if the wind doesn't change as it is apt to do in this particular micro climate.

joe_elway wrote in post #16220330
Thanks everyone.

@BirdBoy This is a well known location in Scotland. The Ospreys in the area started stealing from a fish farm years ago. Instead of trying to stop the birds, the estate built hides and started selling time to the likes of the BBC, pros, and wannabes such as me. The fish are there in the pool, and the Ospreys are nicking them. The only baiting is of the fish ... some feed is put down to draw them to a location that suits our position relative to the wind, with the hope that the birds will face us - works about half of the time if the wind doesn't change as it is apt to do in this particular micro climate.

Sounds cool, thank you for the info. The reason I asked is that very few Osprey with fish pictures I have seen have not been baited in some way. Even a few Nat Geo films have baited scenes in them if I recall correctly.

BirdBoy wrote in post #16220359
Sounds cool, thank you for the info. The reason I asked is that very few Osprey with fish pictures I have seen have not been baited in some way. Even a few Nat Geo films have baited scenes in them if I recall correctly.

I've attempted this without a location such as this fishery. You can never get close enough to get a photo like this, even with a monster lens.

I wouldn't call it bait in this case because the fish were being taken anyway ... I know of another fishery that has migrating Osprey do some shoplifting from them in the autumn. It's a matter of using this to our advantage because the Osprey feel comfortable with stealing from this relatively small pool rather than spending energy fishing in the many surrounding lochs. This is not like what you might see with White-Tailed Eagles where dead fish are thrown from a boat to draw in an eagle to fill the frame of a 300mm lens - and in my experience, the eagles only come in if they haven't already eaten their fill from wild food.

Epic!

I'm so glad I clicked on this one..perfection is an understatement! The clarity just amazed me when it opened up.

Wow amazing capture! This shot is amazing the detail and lighting are perfect!

A beautiful bird catching a beautiful fish: amazing capture!

STUNNING, to say the least...