In Montana’s Flathead Valley, Osprey Now Nesting
©Bert Gildart: Montana’s Flathead Valley has a huge population of osprey, and right now they are in the process of building nests. Mostly we see them on the top of telephone poles, but every now and then friends tell me of a nest they’ve found. Generally, they’ve discovered a pair nesting in a tree somewhere along Flathead Lake, which was the case with this one.
To photograph the bird, you must have a long lens, as ospreys are not very tolerant, and here I used a 600mm lens mounted on a D300 Nikon Camera.
Osprey now nesting in Montana's Flathead Valley, just south of Glacier National Park.
Osprey are unique in that they are one of the two raptors whose outer toe is reversible, allowing it to grasp their prey with two toes in front and two behind. Owls also have this characteristic.
Osprey are fairly common throughout the United States, and I’ve also photographed them in Florida’s Everglades National Park, which is a paradise for those with an interest in natural history.
At the moment Janie and I are preparing to attend an outdoor conference to be held about 70 miles south of our home at a place called Seely Lake. The conference brings outdoor communicators together from all over the Northwest. Each year we look forward to the gathering as we’ve made many good friends and now try to see many throughout the year on a social basis. However, we don’t see them often enough, so this provides a chance to catch up.
SOCIAL YES, BUT ALSO MUCH BUSINESS
While at the conference, we’ll all be attending seminars on writing and photography. We’ll meet editors and be will be introduced to outdoor men and women who would like to see some aspect of their business promoted. Some, for instance, want to see their outfitting business promoted, others their rafting business. Some would like to attract more tourists to their lodge, dining facility and what have you. The conference also provides a grand way to network and obviously to gather story ideas.
Though most will be staying in the posh lodge, Janie and I will be pulling our Airstream to a campground in the immediate vicinity. Not only does it save us money, but we’ve simply come to prefer the comforts of all that our trailer has to offer. Most likely we’ll be joined by others similarly motivated.
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May 7th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
We recently installed a camera on an Osprey nest in Missoula! You can visit us at http://www.montanaospreycam.com to see the ospreys LIVE. You can also control the camera yourself from the website.