Osprey, Dunrobin Marsh, Dunrobin, Ontario
My birder friend, Gerhard, and I were out for a drive in June just to see if we might find anything of interest. As we drove downhill to the point were the bridge crosses a part of the Dunrobin Marsh, we looked over at the man-made nesting platform and saw nothing there. At that moment, Gerhard noticed an Osprey perched in a tree off to one side of the road and I suddenly saw another Osprey overhead. I quickly pulled over onto the graveled shoulder of the road. Almost immediately, a car with flashing lights on the roof pulled in right behind me.
“Yes, officer I know that I pulled off the road pretty quickly.”
“No, officer, there’s no trouble.”
“Well, you see officer, there’s this Osprey …..”
Didn’t get a ticket or anything but was worried that the Osprey might land or leave before I got a chance for the shot that I was hoping for.
The Osprey is also referred to as “Fish Hawk” since fish is their source of food. Larger than most other ‘hawks” and the white markings on its under parts distinguish it from eagles and vultures.
After taking a number of shots of the Osprey, I turned my attention to other flora and fauna in the area but my mind was certainly still on the excitement of the Osprey moment.
Blanding and Midland turtles: Midland Painted Turtles are fairly common throughout Ontario, but the Blanding Turtle only survives is a few locations in Ontario (here in the Kanata/Dunrobin area of Eastern Ontario and in the Point Pelee National Park area many, many miles away. I was therefore, almost as excited to get this photo of a Blanding Turtle, with its yellow neck showing so well, as I was to get the dramatic Osprey photos.
A few flowers also got my attention such as this white water lily and the Marsh Milkweed blossoms
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