Another Day, Another Fish

I am here to photograph birds for no other reason than it is something that I like to do. I've rented a monster lens (Sigma 50-500mm) to help me out.

Wandered down to Bunche Beach after a late lunch to see what was up. The tide was in - way in - and there was not much going on. Checked out the beach as far as I could walk - there's a mangrove swamp at both ends. Got propositioned by a guy in a turquoise thong who was camped out next to the only bird of note - a reddish egret. Took a few pictures of the egret anyway, just to show that I was not intimidated. Figured I could always hit him with the monster lens. Luckily not necessary.

Took myself back to the north end of the beach and spent a pleasant 15 minutes watching about 20 horseshoe crabs working themselves up into a mating frenzy, then settled down to watch the waders. Thought I'd let them come to me instead of chasing them along the shore. So there I was, snapping away at a willet, when a fisherman came by and said 'Did you know that there's an osprey right behind you, eating a fish'? And so there was. Felt a little foolish, I must say, but grateful nonetheless. Promised to send him some shots.

It took the osprey about an hour to polish off the fish. He (or she) ate it very delicately, tearing off a small piece, swallowing it, then surveying the world from his perch to make sure nothing untoward was happening before taking another mouthful. He was eventually joined by a snowy egret and a little blue heron, both perched on a lower branch of the tree, possibly hoping that the fish might be dropped (could those talons ever let go of a fish?). Nice photo ops for me of course!