“Perchancing Upon a Bathing Osprey”
This lesser-known poem by 19th century poet William Butler Yeats fits perfectly with this month’s post. Or it would have had he actually wrote it. Sure sounds good though, doesn’t it? In fairness, Yeats wrote a poem entitled White Bird, an ode to a seagull that he wrote specifically for his unrequited love, Maud Gonne. Maud rejected Yeats’s marriage proposals four times and never did consent. Billy Boy, I don’t know how to tell you this, but she’s just not that into you!
But I actually did “perchance” upon an Osprey bathing recently and what a glorious sight it was. Ospreys are summer-only birds here in Colorado and I always look forward to my first sighting of the year of these magnificent birds. This year’s first one didn’t disappoint.
I was at Chatfield State Park here in the Denver metro area looking for a rare Long-billed Dowitcher shorebird that had allegedly been spotted there as well as a bit more common Greater Yellowlegs. I almost immediately found them and got to add new birds to my “lifer” list. (As always, these images are best enjoyed at full size by clicking on each mage)
Above - Long-billed Dowitcher with its reflection in the water
Above - A pair of Greater Yellowlegs “marches” across the water
Then I saw what I thought was a very large duck in the water barely moving. I was quite a distance away and couldn’t make out what species it was even with my long camera lens so I kept creeping up on it. The photo below shows when I could first discern that this was no ordinary duck. In fact, it wasn’t a duck at all but rather an Osprey!
Above - This is what I thought was a large duck but as you can see it’s clearly an Osprey
I realized the Osprey wasn’t just sitting in the water – it was bathing itself. The Osprey let me get amazingly close, allowing for some feather close-up shots I’ve never gotten before. It was a cold, overcast day so the light was “gray” but that actually worked to my advantage as I didn’t have deep shadows or overblown highlights on its white feathers to contend with. Ospreys have both very dark and very light feathers so exposing for both is practically impossible except in “bad” light. Here is a series of images I got.
Above - Oops! As spies say, “I’ve been made”
Above - The Osprey is now starting to stretch its wings to dry off in the water
Above - The Osprey is continues to stretch its wings to dry off in the water
Above - Again, the Osprey continues to stretch its wings to dry off in the water
Above - My favorite image. The Osprey gives one last big stretch of its wings before it takes off for the day
I hope this series has given you an appreciation of a bird that often suffers in it being compared to bald eagles. Ospreys are beautiful in their own right. And also, I hope you’ve learned that if someone rejects your marriage proposal four times, you should be the one Gonne, not Maud.