WATCH: Osprey footage taken at Rothiemurchus wows TV viewers
Dramatic underwater footage of an osprey snatching a trout which wowed BBC Breakfast audiences this morning was captured by Aviemore.
Inverness-based wildlife photographer Andy Howard took the stunning shots recently at Rothiemurchus Fishery.
And morning television presenters Louise Minchin and Dan Walker were certainly impressed as were many more watching on at home.
Mr Howard, who runs Andy Howard Nature Photography , was delighted with the remarkable underwater footage of the osprey grabbing the trout whilst his fish mate close by seems unperturbed by his friend's sudden disappearance.
It was the culmination of four days of work.
The leading wildlife photographer said: "This never before seen footage shows an osprey grabbing trout – from underwater.
"The stillness of the scene under the loch is disturbed as the osprey comes crashing down through the water at up to 40mph and grabs the trout."
Mr Howard has spent the last decade photographing the birds fishing during the summer breeding time at Rothiemurchus fishery near Aviemore.
But he began to think about getting a different angle on the birds using a relatively low-tech method – gaffer taping a waterproof GoPro camera to a brick.
It still took him four days to capture the footage he was after as he had to put the camera in two spots where he noticed they were most likely to dive.
He worked with the fishery to make sure that the birds and fish remained unaffected by the cameras.
The professional wildlife photographer and author said: "During lockdown I had time to think about images I would love to capture.
"I purchased a couple of GoPro waterproof action cameras and practised with them on my local red squirrels.
"As lockdown eased I took the opportunity to visit the fishery at Rothiemurchus to photograph and film the ospreys.
"Predicting the precise spot the osprey is going to hit the water was the biggest challenge.
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"I did notice they had two favourite areas and I concentrated my attention there.
"My dream shot was to capture the moment an osprey grabs a trout underwater, something I’d never seen before.
"I set out working out the best way to capture this moment.
"I decided the best way was to keep things simple, gaffer tape the GoPros to a brick and place them as close to where I hoped the osprey would dive.
"I started carefully placing the three cameras on bricks not too close in case it spooked the birds."
The 49 year old added: "Photographing and filming involves early pre-dawn starts. This year I’ve made 14 visits to the fishery this season most of which involve a 4am start and long days hoping and willing it to happen.
"On the first morning three birds hit the water not within the camera's range but importantly the birds ignored the cameras.
"On the second morning I moved the cameras ever so closer, again more dives but nothing within range.
"The third morning gave me hope, a dive captured just behind and to the side of one of the cameras.
"By now time was running out, the ospreys would be heading south and as each day passed I was noticing fewer ospreys were in the skies, the migration was on.
"Day four and the most dives of the week, by the nature of how GoPros operate and how I was filming I wasn’t able to review the footage whilst on-site so I had to cross my fingers and hope for the best.
"The next day would be my last opportunity for another year.
"But at last I had captured the moment I had dreamt of for years, the moment none of us would normally see. The footage and images were not only dramatic but somewhat beautiful.
“With so many people with cameras and millions of images being taken every hour of the day it's very difficult to produce something different.
“As a wildlife photographer I spend countless hours outside and have witnessed many life and death encounters with wildlife but this though has to be the most dramatic, maybe more so because it's from a perspective that is normally hidden from us.”
Ospreys visit the fishery on a daily basis from April until late September. They breed in the Highlands before spending winter in Spain and North Africa.
Numbers have recovered since the late 1960s from near extinction to over 250 breeding pairs.
Post-war, birds were persecuted as it was thought they were detrimental to fish stocks and this combined with egg collectors illegally taking eggs from the nest almost wiped out the species.
Rothiemurchus has had a sport fishery for many years and it is not just the anglers that have enjoyed sport here as the ospreys fish out-of-hours and arrive at dawn and in the evening once the anglers have packed up for the day.
It is not unusual to have up to five birds wheeling above the lochs looking for a trout.
An osprey does not have waterproofing on its feathers like a duck, so a fight that lasts too long could result in water logged feathers and ultimately the bird could drown.
In reality the osprey will be in the water from anything from a few seconds to less than a minute.
Mr Howard said: “Even though I have many thousands of images of ospreys from Rothiemurchus I never tire of photographing their spectacular dives and eagerly look forward to their return each spring."
A Rothiemurchus spokesperson said in a post online: "Wildlife photographer Andy Howard has spent the last decade photographing the ospreys fishing at Rothiemurchus Fishery during the summer breeding time.
"It took Andy many days and lots of pre-dawn starts to capture the footage.
"Andy worked with the team at the fishery to make sure that the birds and fish remained unaffected by the cameras."