Yesterday morning was special for many reasons. First the air warmed in the spring sunshine, and the winds were calm. Two different osprey couples took advantage of the nice weather. Rather than add lots of text, just enjoy the sequence of images showing why when you press the shutter down MAKE certain you always utilize your “automatic high speed shutter release mode”. Keep your shutter pressed until you are 100% convinced the action is complete. I took over 90 photographs of these two osprey events, neither of which lasted more than ten seconds. My Sony A6300 is able to take 11 frames per second.

For the mating sequence, I had only arrived seconds earlier, but once I realized what was happening I whipped up my camera and starting taking non-stop photos. Thankfully my previous camera setting was optimized for extremely fast shutter speeds.

Steam Shovel Sam and Sally Osprey Fly-By

Lismore Road Osprey Mating

Mating is Over … the Male comes down to land

Within moments the female flies to another tree … rests … and then goes fishing

This coming Saturday morning, April 26th at 8:00 am sharp, I will lead a birding hike to the Canosia Wildlife Reserve Great Blue Heron Rookery. You MUST send me an email if you want to join us. I will leave the trailhead promptly at 8 am.

Aside from wearing proper clothes to the temperature you should have water proof shoes or boots, and if balance is a concern … a walking stick or ski pole. Although the hike is short (only 1/2 mile to the rookery and basically flat), you will go off trail into a recently logged area which has a huge amount of logs to step over … thus the pole.

It is extremely likely you will see a mated pair of Osprey, and hear (perhaps see) lots of Wilson Snipe. I will cancel if the weather forecast turns horrible, but Saturday looks good right now.

My email address is RichardHoeg {at} GMail.com

The GPS coordinates for the trailhead may be found on my Mn Birding Locations page. The West Lismore Trailhead location at Canosia. When parking, no NOT block the DNR trailhead gate.

I decided to lead this hike as lots of people have been asking for directions (happy to give). Obviously there is no cost, nor will any tips be accepted. The only requirement is that you enjoy the experience!

When the Mississippi River Flyway & Willowsippi WMA did not produce for me over by Jacobson, Minnesota yesterday morning, I decided to come home via the Canosia Wildlife Management Area including a hike into the Great Blue Heron Rookery.

I was prepared for the major off trail bushwhacking to reach the beaver pond and rookery, but discovered that a large area had been logged over the winter. While the logged out area made for difficult hiking over the numerous trees which had been cut, but deemed not of commercial value (i.e. scattered and lying on the ground), the logging actually did make it easier to reach the pond.

While the ice only retreated off area ponds and lakes less than 5 days ago, all the fish eaters (ducks, ospreys and herons) were ready to migrate into our area upon learning there was open water. I estimated over 25 nests already had a male waiting for a mate, and a few nests were already occupied by mated pairs.

This Great Blue Heron Couple was the most active at the task of nest rebuilding. It took me a while to figure out that each time the male flew off in search of new branches and twigs, he only flew a short distance and landed upon an empty nest. The male heron would then proceed to deconstruct / dismantle the old nest and take sticks to fly home. He would then present his fantastic finds to his loved one! Pretty smart … very little energy expended.

A few more photographs of other nests …

And the local Osprey nest which was being contested by three individuals.

Canosia Great Blue Heron Rookery … the Movie! (video link for email subscribers)