While eagles are able to catch fish, there is no better fish hunter than the osprey. The osprey talons are long and curve in a circular motion, unlike any other raptor. In fact they are classified unto their own family. Their feet are also very rough, which helps them cling to slippery fish. I took this photograph along the 1A Highway, which is a low speed road that connects the town of Banff to Lake Louise. In my experience it is one of the best roads to view wildlife in Banff National Park.
I saw this nest a number of years ago and I have returned here for years as osprey almost always nest in the same location, as does the eagle. I watched this family of ospreys for two days and I was amazed by their fishing skill. There are eagles here as well and frequently the eagles chase the osprey and try to get them to drop their fish. The eagles then retrieve the fallen fish. As the male osprey was landing I set my camera to 8 frames per second and started shooting. This is how I was able to capture the wing beat. You can see his outstretched legs with the fish in his talon. I was able to just catch the sun in his eye and you can see his yellow eyes. There are three chicks in the nest but the third was very small and it is unlikely that he survived, despite the efforts of the parents. I used a 600mm F4 lens and a teleconverter, which extends the lens to 820mm or about 16x power by binocular standards.
Mike Montana
