Gordon catches Tay’s winged wonder in the act
Going wild for nature fan’s osprey shots
A Perthshire nature lover is drawing praise on social media for his action shots of a stunning osprey on the Tay.
Gordon Muir has captured a number of images over the past few weeks of the bird catching fish on the river.
Positioning himself close to the mouth of the River Almond, Gordon has witnessed nature in all its glory, as the unringed bird of prey strikes when a fish comes too close the surface.
Gordon told the PA: “It’s a wonderful pleasure and privilege to be able to watch, at close quarters, these majestic birds from a very publicly accessible place.
To see the osprey just going about its daily business is a truly awesome experience Gordon Muir
“You can go to hides and nature reserves, but to see the osprey just going about its daily business as we go about our own is a truly awesome experience.
“And if you get really, really lucky, one might fly as low as 30 feet over your head with a catch before heading away to devour its fish tea.
“The osprey we have visiting daily this year may well be a juvenile from last year who is not raising a family because the frequency of visits is less than in previous years, when we had a different osprey which visited the river five or six times a day.
“That osprey sadly failed to return this year. There are occasions when more than one can be seen, especially late in the season, when there is the possibility of adults bringing their fledged young to the Tay for fishing practice. This is quite rare though.”
Describing the moment he sees a bird go in for the kill, Gordon says: “The osprey is a much larger bird than the others that fill the skies above the river, so is quite easily identifiable.
“It will soar with big wide turns as it searches far below for a fish.
“Once it has something in its sights, it will hover to adjust itself and to calculate its plan before diving very quickly towards the water.
“Sometimes it will abort before reaching the water, usually if the fish has moved or the bird has miscalculated its angles, but mostly it hits the water at an amazing speed.
“The strike rate for catching a fish is about one in four so sometimes you will get to see the bird hit the water a few times before you see it with a fish.”
The osprey is not the only creature Gordon has captured on camera. He has snapped butterflies, mink and an otter over the past few weeks as well.