Ospreys in the Trossachs
I have visited over 50+ lochs and rivers, all over Scotland, in the last 2 years. The aim of this was to find an ideal spot for photographing ospreys during the summer. Whilst I’ve had a bit of luck, I could never really get close enough to the birds, on a consistent basis, as they dived for fish. As a result, I had hundreds of photos but the quality of them wasn’t great – 99% of them have been deleted.
So, I was delighted to find out that a new osprey hide (The Trossachs Osprey Hide) was opening up just outside Callander. This is an area I am familiar with, as my in-laws had a house at Loch Lubnaig, just a few miles away. I have spent many an hour at lochsides in the area, watching ospreys in the Trossachs come and go, over the years. More details about this new hide can be found on their website – www.trossachsospreyhide.co.uk
The Hide
The new Trossachs Osprey Hide is based on a trout farm where ospreys have been feeding, over the summer months, for the last 10 years. The ‘farmed trout’ area has now been netted over and a pond area has been left open for the ospreys to feed in.
The newly built hide, which only opened in April of this year, is slightly raised and set back about 4-5 meters from the water’s edge, allowing a good view of the pond. There is space for four photographers, plus room for any additional kit that you want to bring. The area where you park your car, also has a loo, and is only 30 metres away from the hide. As the ospreys have historically fed at this trout farm, they seem to have no issue about feeding from the pond area, with a brand new hide next to it.
Wildlife
I first visited at the beginning of June for an early morning session 5am-8am but unfortunately I didn’t have any osprey visits. However, that’s wildlife for you and you can’t get upset if there’s a ‘no show’… on the up-side, I did spot an otter that morning, in the osprey pond! Keep an eye out for lots of other wildlife too – herons, kingfishers, otters, dippers, mallards, goosanders, plus much more. If you take a look through the visitors’ log book, you will see the variety of wildlife that has been seen recently from the hide.
My Visit This Week
I returned to the Trossachs Osprey Hide this week for a Tuesday evening session 6pm-9pm. I followed that up with another early morning session at 5am-8am the next day. Unlike my first visit in early June, there was plenty osprey activity on this occasion. There were six dives by 3 ospreys in the evening session and 3 fish were taken. In the morning, there were 4 dives and 2 fish taken. After these two sessions, I got more close up photos than I ever have done, over the last 2 years sitting by lochsides and rivers.
Booking Times
The hide can take up to four people per booking slot and there are four booking slots per day. Booking slots times are: 5am-8am, 10am-1pm, 2pm-5pm, 6pm-9pm and prices start at £30 per session & £50 for the evening session. The hide is only open for the osprey season which is April to the end of August. So if you fancy photographing ospreys in the Trossachs, then I would book it quickly as there are only a few weeks left this season. Online booking is very easy and you get instant confirmation, as you’d expect.
An additional bonus of watching ospreys in August is that this is the month when all the young osprey chicks are out with the adult males, as they learn how to fish for themselves. As a result this should lead to seeing more birds around the hide and more dives. There will be a lot of failed attempts by the youngsters but it is still fascinating to watch.
Camera Gear
In terms of camera gear, I took a 500mm lens with a 2x tele-convertor for any distant shots of ospreys sitting in trees. I also took my 150-600mm lens for everything else. I didn’t use a tripod but you may want to use a small beanbag to rest your lens on.
If the ospreys are flying overhead & circling the pond, they can dive at any moment, so have your camera settings ready for a very quick dive. I shoot in manual mode most of the time but I would recommend shutter priority on this occasion. As rough guide, I used 1/3200th of a second when the bird was diving, I then changed to 1/2000th of a second when it was coming out of the water. I experimented by slowing down my shutter speed even further, as it was flying away, to get a bit of blur in the wings but trying to keep the body and the trout in focus. I was hoping to give the feeling of the bird in motion – it’s still a ‘work in progress’ and I hope to improve on those shots on my next visit!
Their movement isn’t as fast, whilst in the water or when leaving the pond. They can spend a bit of time in the water to ensure the fish is secure in their talons. Additionally, it is worth noting which direction the wind is coming from, as they need to get the wind coming in under their wings to help lift them out of the water, with the extra weight of the fish. They tend to turn around in the water to face the wind and this way you can anticipate which direction they will be leaving the pond.
I would also say that in terms of focal length, most of your shots will be in the range of 200-400mm – by going up to 500/600mm, you’ll risk getting parts of the birds out of the frame, when it’s diving at speed. For those not used to photographing birds in flight, I would suggest starting at 200mm. After that, gradually edge up 50mm at a time, to find your comfort zone & ideal success rate. Thankfully there are lots of herons and smaller birds flying about to practice on.
…and Finally!
For what it’s worth, I also tied in a visit to Argaty Red Kites, in Doune (only 20mins away) for an afternoon watching the red kites feeding session. I have written about Argaty Red Kites before & you can find the blogpost here with all their details. An overnight stay in Callander saved me from driving back to Edinburgh at 9pm and then getting up at 3:15am to return for my 5am session. So that’s worth considering, if you plan to do an evening session followed by an early morning one!
I don’t use bird hides very often but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I would certainly recommend it. I will be visiting the hide again before the ospreys leave at the end of August and I’ll certainly add the Trossachs Osprey Hide to my wildlife diary for next year.
Below are some of the shots that I took on the 25th/26th July at the Trossachs Osprey Hide. You can find prints of the ospreys on my Scottish Wildlife website here – www.tomkelly.co.uk/Ospreys/
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