Fishing Ospreys on the Rappahannock River

April 27, 2025 by John Caplis

Every spring between late March and early May, an anadromous fish called hickory shad migrates up the Rappahannock River from the Atlantic Ocean to lay their eggs. This shad spawning run is an attraction for local fly fisherman and a time of plenty for ospreys, also known as fish hawks. The fishing spectacle is also great opportunity for concentrated, action-packed bird photography, with numerous ospreys frequently diving into the river and emerging with their catch of shad. Old Mill Park in Fredericksburg, Virginia is a great place to catch the action.

Talons fully extended milliseconds before hitting the water.

Hitting the water in pursuit of shad.

Making a big splash!

Sometimes they emerge empty handed.

More often than not, they emerge with a fish in their grasp.

Sometimes the catch is more plentiful.

Their talons must be razor sharp

The afternoon hours can provide backlight in the tailfeathers and reflected light under their wings.

I used the Canon RF 200-800 lens for these images, which were further cropped in during processing. 600 mm seemed like a good focal length for tracking, and then zooming in further to photograph them with their catch.

A low wing flap while taking off with their catch.

Shutter speeds between 1/1600 and 1/2000 of a second worked well to keep things sharp but still allow small hints of motion. Auto ISO combined with -1.3 stops of exposure compensation kept the exposure in a good range that prevented the white feathers on the ospreys from being overexposed on a sunny day.

Osprey shaking off water as it flies away with its catch.

Continuous auto-focus tracking is a must. A high speed frame rate will ensure you have some nice wing positions to choose from for your image. The stacked image sensor and the electronic shutter on the Canon R5 Mk II worked together very well to eliminate “rolling shutter” which can distort wings in motion.

Clean non-distracting backgrounds, good lighting, wing and tailfeather posture, and eye contact with the osprey (and the fish), were key elements I was looking when selecting images.

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