KANGASALA OSPREY FOUNDATION, FINLAND
Discover the best place in the world to photograph Ospreys.
The Pohtiolampi pond in Kangasala, near Tampere, Finland, is the best place in the world to photograph Ospreys. Most of the images of Ospreys fishing have been taken there. The place is operated by the Osprey Foundation, which has run the fish pond for the Ospreys for more than two decades, and the locally breeding wild Ospreys have learned to use the pond for fishing regularly. On a good day there can be as many as 150 Osprey fishing dives!
The fish pond was originally built to serve Osprey protection and research. Likewise, the first blinds that were built around the pond were designated for researchers. Then photographers visiting the site wanted to rent the blinds for photography, and the foundation set up a carefully monitored and regulated schedule for photographers. Now the income from renting the blinds helps pay a large part of the costs incurred by the feeding activities.
Pohtiolampi has a big watchtower, roughly 40 m (131 ft) from the pool, that is open to everyone. The tower is good for observing the birds, but you can also rent one of six photographers’ slots in the tower. Bookings can be made on-site or by calling the Osprey Center. A path takes you to the tower along a route that doesn’t disturb the birds.
You can also rent the six photo blinds around the edge of the fish pond. The blinds are rented to just one photographer at a time, who can bring two other people. The limit of three photographers at any given time has been found to cause minimal disturbance to the Ospreys.
Bookings for the spring and summer season are made online starting in January, when the new booking calendar is published (it can be found on the website shown in the next paragraph). The Osprey Center is quite popular, and the best times are normally booked right after the calendar is published. The website also has instructions and guidelines for photographing at the center and for the use of the blinds. The center has modest on-site accommodations, and bookings are made at the same time as blind reservations. It is also possible to spend the night in some of the blinds.
You can find more information on the foundation’s website (www.saaksisaatio.fi/en/index.htm) and their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/saaksisaatio).
Eye of the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Nikon D3S, 500mm f/4.0, 1/3200 second, f/7.1, ISO 800, continuous focus with 51 focusing points, beanbag, blind. Kangasala, Finland, September 2010.
Times and Instructions for Photographing at the Center
The first Ospreys to return on spring migration come to fish in the pond around mid-April. In spring and summer, the Ospreys fish in the pond regularly, with one to three strikes per hour during daylight. In the middle of the summer, especially when the wind is strong and the local Ospreys struggle to fish in the lakes in the region, there can be many more visiting the pond.
The female Ospreys and the fledgling young join in the fishing crowd in August and September, doubling or even tripling the action at the pond, compared to early summer. The action peaks at the end of August; on August 28, 2010, there were 150 hits in the fish pond. With the young birds honing their fishing skills in early autumn, and at first missing quite often, there is plenty of action for photographers. The Ospreys fish in the pond until the middle of September.
Gray Herons fish in the pond, too. They arrive well before sunrise, so it’s good to get in the blind the previous evening or in the wee hours of the morning at the latest. The Ospreys are most active just before midday, which is followed by a lull that is a good time to have lunch in the coffee shop. The Ospreys hunt well into the darkness of the evening.
This image of an Osprey that has just launched into a dive was taken from the tower blind (Pandion haliaetus)
Nikon D3S, 500mm f/4.0, 1/3200 second, f/7.1, ISO 800, continuous focus with 51 focusing points, beanbag, blind. Kangasala, Finland, September 2010.
Catching a big fish can cause a long fight in the water (Pandion haliaetus)
Canon EOS-1D Mark III, 500mm f/4.0, 1/1250 second, f/4.0, ISO 1600, continuous focus with an extended central focusing point, beanbag, blind. Kangasala, Finland, September 2009.
A Eurasian Magpie and an Osprey, taken from the tower blind (Pica pica, Pandion haliaetus)
Canon EOS-1D Mark III, 500mm f/4.0, 1/2000 second, f/6.3, ISO 800, one-shot focus with one focusing point, beanbag, tower blind. Kangasala, Finland, September 2007.
Normally I start my day in the main blinds, or in a blind to the right of them, depending on which way the wind is blowing. The wind determines the direction the Ospreys go because they lift from the water and take off with their catch. If the wind is blowing from the west or the north, the birds will usually head away from the two main blinds that are on the edge of the pond. This makes it very difficult to take any good images of the Ospreys, but it gets much easier from blinds that are on the sides of the pond. In sunny weather the tower blind is excellent for photographing the Ospreys because they are perching in the nearby trees, hovering over the water, or launching into a dive.
Other fishing birds at the pond include Gray Herons, Common Mergansers, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Hooded Crows, Eurasian Magpies, and Eurasian Jackdaws, plus occasionally other raptors such as Northern Goshawks and Common Buzzards.
The Osprey Foundation would like visiting photographers to keep in mind that volunteers produce the infrastructure and services in the center, and the center doesn’t necessarily compare favorably with the standards in professionally operated commercial facilities. All of the revenue from renting the blinds is used for Osprey conservation at the center.