TAKE A LOOK....

[koiguy1969]

THE 35 TOP NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PICS OF 2013


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[koiguy1969]

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[koiguy1969]

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[koiguy1969]

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[j.w]

Beautiful! Amazing how they get in the right position to take some of those shots,wow!

 

[addy1]

Beautiful! Amazing how they get in the right position to take some of those shots,wow!

you said it all

 

[Mucky_Waters]

And well they should be. There are all fantastic shots. Thanks for posting.

That particular shot of the Osprey has reminds me of a local success story. Apparently the area where I grew up, in the Okanagan Valley in Southern BC use to be ripe with Ospreys, but when I was a kid there was none at all. I just heard the stories about how many there use to be before the fruit growing industry took off in the early 1900s. Back then their pesticide of choice was DDT, which eventually made it's way into the ecological system and decimated the Osprey population. They say even trace amounts of DDT causes Osprey eggs shells to become soft, and when the mothers roost on the eggs they squish them, thus no babies. No babies, no more Ospreys.
OK, so they banned the use of DDT back in the around 1972, so did the Ospreys return? I'am happy to say they have, they are once again the most common large bird of prey in that area.
Now keep in mind they eat fish, and would be quite happy to eat the goldfish and koi out of your pond if given half a chance, so maybe it's not completely a success story.

 

[Mmathis]

AWESOME!

 

[Sunshine]

Spectacular pics.

 

[Dave 54]

Spectacular Mark they truely are .

rgrds

Dave

 

[capewind]

Amazing ...

 

[HARO]

And well they should be. There are all fantastic shots. Thanks for posting.

That particular shot of the Osprey has reminds me of a local success story. Apparently the area where I grew up, in the Okanagan Valley in Southern BC use to be ripe with Ospreys, but when I was a kid there was none at all. I just heard the stories about how many there use to be before the fruit growing industry took off in the early 1900s. Back then their pesticide of choice was DDT, which eventually made it's way into the ecological system and decimated the Osprey population. They say even trace amounts of DDT causes Osprey eggs shells to become soft, and when the mothers roost on the eggs they squish them, thus no babies. No babies, no more Ospreys.
OK, so they banned the use of DDT back in the around 1972, so did the Ospreys return? I'am happy to say they have, they are once again the most common large bird of prey in that area.
Now keep in mind they eat fish, and would be quite happy to eat the goldfish and koi out of your pond if given half a chance, so maybe it's not completely a success story.

Saw one go over not far from here a couple of years back with a large, bright red fish in it's talons. Someone was missing a koi that day!
John

 

[koiguy1969]

#33.... IS MY NEW HERON DETERANT.

 

[addy1]

#33.... IS MY NEW HERON DETERANT.

Now that would work!

 

[j.w]

#33.... IS MY NEW HERON DETERANT.

But it might just turn out to be a koiguy deterrent also :yikesu: