Osprey at Ft. Pickens

One of the great things about patroling at Ft. Pickens in the summer is being able to observe osprey.  Many of the tall pine trees which died in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan have had their bleak skeletons claimed as prime nest sites by both osprey and herons in this area of Gulf Islands National Seashore. 

As much as I enjoy watching osprey, I rarely have an opportunity to photograph or get video of them.  On the occasion I do, the quality is not the best because not only am I a distance from them, they are usually flying and I'm driving a UTV!  Not prime conditions to capture a moving target with my camera.

Last Sunday, however, I did manage to get a small amount of footage of an adult osprey taking a break from fishing and resting on a long piece of driftwood.   He even ruffled his feathers for me once!  Also note the dragonflies darting about at the beginning.