Eagles and Owls!

[witchy]

These are nowhere near the standard of Eagle pics I have seen posted on this forum but I thought I would show you anyway. They were taken at the Eagle Heritage Sanctuary just outside Margaret River, Western Australia. Injured and sick birds are taken here and released when better. Unfortunately only about 20% ever get better enough to be released :(..but I guess that's better than none.

The Eagle is a Wedge-tailed Eagle, Australia's biggest eagle..The eagle was in an avairy and it was a dark, overcast day. I had a problem shooting through wire and getting light.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/witchy1/Wedgetaileaglesized.jpg

This owl was born in captivity. It's 10 months old, sorry can't remember what sort of owl it was. People are allowed to have him sit on your arm, I did, it was a great experience!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/witchy1/Owl-1.jpg

Not sure on the name of this bird..Doesn't it have beautiful colouring?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/witchy1/Eagleheritage1.jpg

[tommykjensen]

Nice photos.

[dkord]

Not sure on the name of this bird..Doesn't it have beautiful colouring?

Yes, and it's amazing how skinny the legs are! Thanks for sharing.

[RockOne]

Nice shots. I think that the owl is a Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae) and that the last bird is a Spotted Harrier (Circus assimilis).

[tupe]

Beautiful! Nice shots, witchy.

[Mannytkd]

What great shots, birds of prey rule the skies. The beak on the large eagle looks deadly........awsome.

[Maureen Souza]

You are on a very nice roll, lately. These are great shots!

[bellemel]

awesome pics witchy!

[witchy]

Steve, wow you are spot on again, I googled again to check and you appear to be right. Thanks again.

Maureen, yep on a roll..I took over 1100 photos in the 4 days we were away. I still have to bore you all with my scenic, cave, sunrise and sunset pics :p

Mannytkd, couldn't agree more..Birds of prey are awesome!

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments :)

[cfcRebel]

Great shots of the wonderful birds. The eagle looks HUGE! The hawk has beautiful feathers.

[witchy]

Great shots of the wonderful birds. The eagle looks HUGE! The hawk has beautiful feathers.

They are huge. My ex husband is a truckdriver and one day on a trip up north, one flew right in front of his truck. The wing span was nearly the width of his windscreen, he said it made him duck.

This a a description that I have just copied about the wedge-tailed eagle

The Wedge-tailed Eagle is Australia's largest living bird of prey and one of the largest eagles in the world. It reaches 0.85-1.05 m in length and has a wingspan of 2.3 m. Females are larger than males, averaging 4.2 kg in weight and occasionally reaching 5.3 kg. Males usually weigh about 3.2 kg, although they may reach 4.0 kg.
Young Wedge-tailed Eagles are mid brown in colour with reddish-brown heads and wings. They become progressively blacker for at least the first ten years of their lives; adults are mostly dark blackish-brown. There are no differences in plumage between the sexes other than that a female adult is generally slightly paler than her mate. The bill is pale pink to cream, the iris brown to dark brown, and the feet off-white.

The Wedge-tailed Eagle has long wings, a characteristic long, wedge-shaped tail, and legs that are feathered all the way to the base of the toes. In comparison, Australia's second largest eagle, the White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Haliaeetus leucogaster, has shorter, more rounded wings and no feathers on its lower legs. The White-bellied Sea Eagle is 0.75-0.85 m long and has a wingspan of 1.8-2.2 m, and weighs 2.5-3.7 kg (male) and 2.8-4.2 kg (female).

[weemannie]

Great shots witchy:D

[Simon Spiers]

Think you will find the first Owl is a Barn Owl.
Beautiful pictures , the last one has a slightly human face!
I find him a bit creapy.

[RockOne]

Barn owls don't have the brown around the eyes !

[sparker1]

Those are good shots, witchy. Thanks for sharing with us who have never seen those species.

[Bald Eagle]

I told you it was a great idea to show the Eagles and such. Fantastic photos, I'm glad you decided to share them. Thank you.

[bosamar]

The owl reminds me of the movie Dumb and Dumber....

[C.S.I.]

First shot is magestic........a lil cropping, and it would look like the maltese falcon!

[witchy]

Thanks everyone, I just wish I had gotten better pics of the eagles that were out in the flight area but they were too quick for me!