I took a trip out to the Lesner Bridge on Sunday morning. I had been hearing that the Ospreys were feeding by the bridge. It was a pretty cloudy and dull morning so I decided to focus mostly on video. However, I’m still trying to get used to my Nikon 800mm PF and believe it or not, the Ospreys were really too close to shoot video at 800mm. A 600mm lens would have been perfect for video here.
I decided to walk under the bridge through the boat ramp parking lot and set up on the dune overlooking the Lynnhaven Inlet. There was some action off towards Pleasure House Point, but it was really too far away to get some good images. However, I was high enough up that I was able to get some get images of Brown Pelicans flying by at almost a straight on angle.
I decided to walk back over to the bridge and I climbed up on the platform under one of the bridge pilings. I was able to grab some good images of Brown Pelicans flying by here as well.
While I never did get another “great” images of Ospreys diving into the water, I was able to grab a few good images of them flying near the bridge.
At this point, my video shooting wasn’t going so well. I decided to walk back to the car and switch out my equipment, exchanging my Z9 and 800mm PF for the Z8 and 400mm f/4.5 VR S lens.
Well, wouldn’t you know it. I really needed the 800mm again. I witnessed a juvenile Bald Eagle chasing an Osprey that had a fish in it’s talons. Unfortunately, it was too far away for the 400mm lens. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
I will definitely be coming back soon. This might be the best location in Hampton Roads to watch Ospreys feeding.
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