I was with a group of about 7 paddlers today at Jenny Gulch. I had to fallen behind the pack to make sure Tuesday was on the right side of the lake for the return home when I noticed an osprey flying along the opposite side of the water line and land in a tree not too far from me. I  thought about it for a while and almost passed it by, but decided to go ahead and try to get some shots.

I paddled closer and closer to the tree where the raptor was perched, clicking along the way.  About 20 feet from the bird I noticed  that he  was bobbing his head back and forth – my camera also shoots video and I thought I’d try to get some footage of this silly dance. So I switched over to video mode and fumbled to try to find the bird in the view finder and pull focus. Before I was able to even point my camera in the right direction the bird flew off the top of the tree, not away from me but straight down. It plunged ( no more than 8 feet in front of me) into the water until completely submersed and then popped back up again with a blue gill in its talons. It few up over my right shoulder and then off again back across the lake from where it had entered my life only minutes before.

I felt as though that moment lasted hours and every excruciating micro-second ticked on for eternity. I fumbled as if I had never held a camera before in my life. I felt a crushing blow of disappointment that battled intensity with overpowering excitement. I felt like i was going to explode and cry at the same time.