This is a small token of thanks to Don for his astonishing series of Osprey pictures. Unlike his fantastic images this is not full frame or anywhere near it - in fact I'm not even sure it could be realistically be described as a print version (though there are print versions). It is my best Osprey picture to date though.
I translated a short film about the Nature School in Nacka (the town near Stockholm where I work). It's a wonderful place, situated in a nature reserve, where schoolchildren of all ages travel to learn about nature and the environment and to conduct experiments. The people who run the school were very grateful and this resulted in me taking part in a few early morning birding outings for Nacka residents at the nature reserve. Then I did another short translation and one of the leaders at the Nature School wrote back mentioning that the young Ospreys had left the nest and were trying out their wings. I expressed great interest so we were offered the use of a rowing boat if I was prepared to let them use any pictures I got for their homepage. This seemed like a good bargain so I immediately agreed.
It was during a spell of poor weather but it stopped raining just as we arrived and we even had some bright periods. I missed the Black Woodpecker that flew across the lake just as we rowed out on the lake I did get lots of Osprey pictures including this one, the best, of a bird that launched itself from a dead tree on a small island as we approached.
