Photo - Poaching Herring...Caught in the act!
 

I caught this osprey in the act of nabbing a herring from the Narrow River. This was the first outing with my new camera, I'm raising the bar at Laptew Productions...this year's photos and videos will be unlike anything you've ever seen before...super high speed, able to film by moonlight, all new lenses, housing and lighting. Canon D1 Mark with 70-200mm f/2.8L IS EF II USM LENS. ISO 2500, 1/2000 shutter speed, F4

Simply amazing... Great shot Mike.

Nothing like being at the right place at the right time....

I had been fishing with my youngest brother years ago down in Nickerson State Park on Little Cliff pond, and we had been getting a few trout and plenty of sunfish. We had dispatched with a couple of sunnies and were privy to a similar incident. I heard the osprey before my brother even knew what was happening, so I directed him to "watch this!" as the bird swooped down and picked up the fish about 20' away from our boat.
I turned to my brother and said "You don't see that kind of thing in the city, do ya?"

Simply amazing shot. Check out how the talons penetrate into the fish. Probably goes all the way through.

Truly an awesome bird ,,, unless your a herring ... :err:

Beautiful photo, Mike.

Awesome! Front Page Please!

Great photo!

that pic should be on a magazine cover!

That's amazing.

Mike, you've taken amazing pics but this one tops them all. I'd be willing to pay for an enlarged print of that!

Great shot! Was that a single or 1 from rapid-fire? The shutter speed was perfect in that the bird's feathers are perfect......

Great shot!

Thanks for all the kind words regarding the photo. That shot was several days in the making; it started last Saturday when I was about to slip in the water to shoot herring and as I was handing my camera to my son-in-law I heard a loud splash not more than ten feet away, (if I had only been facing the opposite way) -- in full sight of Paul and Capt. Ed Hughes, an osprey had grabbed a herring right behind me. The next day Ed went back at the same time of day and got a very cool shot of the bird grabbing a fish...we had figured out his/her routine. Yesterday, with my new camera in hand, we invested a couple of hours waiting for a dive bombing display. We witnessed one failed attempt and a successful hunt. I couldn't grab a decent focus on the bird while it was diving (too many limbs in the way) but I did grab this shot and several other goods.

RIJIMMY,
I will be posting larger images of this photo, underwater shots of herring, stripers, tog, marlin, dorado, turtles and more at a new website I have going up in a few days. You'll be able to order those as prints that will be shipped to you or for a very reasonable price, you can purchase them custom framed through a wholesale frame shop I work with...Crestar Mfg. has a massive selection of frames and matting and you can customize your print to best suit your mancave or home.

Wait till you see the underwater images I grab with this new system...right now I'm off to grab another osprey shot.

PRBuzz, it was one of several short bursts (10 frames per second).

Here's another picture showing an osprey swooping through the trees.

Great pictures!!! Videos are awsome also! I was at east bay anglers show and was amazed!!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Awesome photo...curious to know how much the raw image was cropped...i.e. how fast are you really? :hihi:

-spence

Very nice shots Mike. The color and clarity are insane.

very nice, I had an Osprey pick a bunker out of the Narrow river about ten feet away from me a couple of years ago. Bunker was so big it just barely could gain altitude to fly away.

This is one sweet picture and is now my my wallpaper. Thanks Mike

Boy, you've got GREAT reflexes for an old guy...:hihi:

Seriously, Mike, excellent shot - as always!

Enjoy the new hardware - I know you're gonna put it thru it's paces...:uhuh:

He's allowed a few herrin.
 

He has a multispecies permit.:uhuh:

I love birds of prey.

spence,
I'm still faster than a speeding bullet. The picture could easily stand without any crop...I would say I cropped about 25 - 30% off the shot to get it down to 800 X 600. It could easily be blown up to 20" X 30" if not larger.

I captured a number of new shots today -- who said lightning doesn't strike twice?

Ok, that's pretty fast then :uhuh:

I love the stuff, keep 'em coming!

-spence

Looks like National Geographic in here.... looking forward to seeing more. Awesome pictures

great osprey pics......thanks:)

amazing pics keep them coming-wow

It's not the mid-water trawlers, it's the ospreys
 

Obviously it's not the commerical over exploitation by pair trawlers that's decimating our stocks of blueback and river herring, it's the ospreys :eek:

Mike....simply spectacular photographs!

Mike, awesome shot! I actually met you at the spot where the herring are, we chatted for a bit the saturday before easter. Keep up the good work!