Saturday morning was an incredible morning to be at Blue Cypress Lake.  Some friends and I made the trip down the turnpike to the lake, which is near Yeehaw Junction.  The lake is full of bass, which makes it a popular hangout spot for the Osprey population.  Hundreds of Osprey nests can be found in the tops of the cypress trees.  We took a pontoon boat out on the lake to photograph the nesting birds.  Birds came out of practically every cypress tree that we passed!

Most of the birds are on eggs.  A few chicks have hatched, but they weren’t visible over the tops of the nests yet.  Our boat driver, Jeff, was really neat about trying to orient the boat so that we were shooting at the best light angle.  He knew how to approach the birds to get them to “show off,” but I really respected that he also knew when to move along and leave them alone.  After all, the photographers were the “intruders” that had wandered into the birds’ front yards…the birds were much more polite than I would be if somebody drove a boat into my nursery! :)

There were many (many!) opportunities for flight shots as the birds circled around their nests.  Occasionally they would bring in fish.  A couple carried nesting material.  Jeff explained that the small nests were the nests newly built this year by juvenile birds.  The older birds return to the same nests and build them up year after year.  The calls of the birds echoed throughout the air as they went about their morning activities.  I tried to catch one fussing, and I love the expression of the bird in the image below.

If you are considering a trip to Blue Cypress Lake, now is a great time to go!  We rented our boat through Middleton Fish Camp.  Jeff our boat driver was awesome.   I’d highly recommend the experience.  Did I mention that we’re going back? :)