We had a fruitless couple of days on the west coast. Nothing rare around: the only passage migrants were lots of Dusky Thrush, a few Rustic Bunting and Japanese White-eye and a lone Olive-backed Pipit. There were some summer plumage Black-throated Divers offshore and a load of commoner birds around including Chestnut-eared Bunting, Pacific Swift and Peregrine.
Ospreys everywhere too. The well-known nest is already occupied and the female is sitting on eggs.
I may not get back to this location again this summer. Maybe in 2 weeks…wonder if the young will already be flying then?
The Osprey chicks have grown a lot in only 2 weeks…
The female looked at the end of her tether: constantly mobbed by Black-tailed Gulls (one of which crapped all over her).
I probably won’t be seeing them for 2 or 3 weeks, the young will be much bigger then I imagine.
Nothing else really posing for photos so here are some more Ospreys from Sunday…
This shot was before the sun came out…
Black-tailed Gulls make terrible neighbours…
The Ospreys seemed to be doing well…
The chicks were asleep when we arrived.
Both parents together. And here’s the male dropping off dinner…
The young will probably be a lot bigger next time I go here…
These 2 bunting species were in the same spot as the Ospreys. Also around were Blue Rock Thrush, Lesser Cuckoo and Rhinoceros Auklet whilst nearer Hakodate some stray wildfowl including a drake Falcated Duck and at Kikonai there was a lone Greater White-fronted Goose.
Not great photos but an interesting scene. These 3 baby Ospreys must have been born very very recently. With the harsh light, strong wind and heat haze it’s almost impossible to get sharp clear shots.
Several pairs of Black-tailed Gull nest on the same rock and things went crazy when a Peregrine swooped in and grabbed a nestling. With my 2X T/C on and everything on a tripod it all happened too quickly to get any photos.
So my 7DM2 has seen better days. The main dial on top has broken and other bits are loose or stiff or falling off: but nothing major I thought. I could just about manage to get by using the dial on the grip and the Q screen for a few months but as July is generally a birding lull I sent it off to Canon expecting them to do some minor repairs for between $100 and $200.
I still have my 7D Mark 1 so these photos and the last post were taken with that 11-year-old antique. For perched birds at 700mm, it’s still OK .
It was lousy for BIFs with the T/C attached but otherwise didn’t seem so bad. This Osprey on the way home was in better light and without the T/C.
When we got back Canon had been in touch. They want about $700 to fix the camera. The shutter count is so high apparently they want to replace the mirror and shutter as well as the other bits and pieces I had sent it in for. $700 to fix for a 6-year-old camera no longer in production? No way. Especially one as idiosyncratic as the 7DM2. We asked them how much it would be to just fix the top dial but they haven’t got back to me yet.
I’m not really in the position to buy a new camera for a while. The New Canon R bodies look very interesting but are way out of my price range at the moment. I guess the unrepaired 7DM2 will come back and I’ll use it until it dies but then what?
The Osprey family on the west coast is doing well. 3 juveniles, all of them flying around a bit. the female (above and below) was getting harassed by the local Black-tailed Gulls.
Every so often the male dropped by with a fish…………..
