"IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE WIND" - Osprey

June 21, 2026 • Leave a Comment

"IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE WIND"

Osprey - 11 Photos

A country song by Ella Langley but in this instance a strong wind event that produced an amazing flying display by a male Osprey. You can tell how strong the wind was blowing by the disarray of the Osprey's feathers.

He had flown into the nest from a western direction with a fish, spent some time there with his partner & presumably recently hatched offspring and then flew east to a nearby branch. He spent some time there grooming & relaxing and then he changed to a position (Photo #1) that seemed to infer a flight might occur, probably in the direction of or back to the nest.

So I focused on the Osprey and waited for that initial wing flap & jump into the air and then the subsequent flight. As there was a strong wind coming from the southwest and I was facing north, I assumed I might have an opportunity to capture some dramatic flight action. Birds generally take-off & land into the wind.

But then the most extraordinary event happened. Instead of placing the wings in an upward position behind him, the Osprey spread out his wings upwards & outwards, released his talons from the branch (Photo #2) and let the wind carry him upward and westward. The best way to describe what happened next were the actions of a paraglider. A paraglider sits in a harness beneath a huge fabric wing, jumps off from a high point using the air currents to soar and adjusts the flight by pulling on the brake toggles attached to the wing.

The Osprey never flapped once. He only adjusted the shape of his wings. He remained in a long horizontal position, keeping his head & eyes focused westward and very slowly glided, letting the wind carry him slowly to the top of the nest (Photo #3 through Photo #7), where it literally gently deposited him. As it was basically in slow motion, it certainly made capturing the moment easier.

There was a brief period spent in the nest and then a traditional flight back to the eastward branch again (Photo #8 through 11) and then a flight westward again but this time probably for a fishing expedition.

Believe others must have witnessed Ospreys executing this manoeuvre but for me it was a totally unexpected & memorable experience. It certainly defines Ospreys as "Lord of the Skies", particularly with winds gusting in excess of 35 kilometres an hour.

PHOTO #1