Wedge Tail Eagle

I got an unexpected surprise today. A few of us Brisbane POTNer's went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. I didn't know I had such a brilliant free flight raptor show so close to home (1/2 hr drive). As well as this Wedgie we got several Owls and a Kite, these will follow in later posts. I was stoked to get these as I've never had much luck (=non at all ) with raptors.

No1 Great to get such up close access. No2 The local wild birds imedietly started to attack the wedge tail as it circled. The other bird is a crow that was hassling the wedgie. Had to do a bit of PP here to bring out the colour on the eagle. No3 is cruising in low to land on the handler's arm. This is my first serious go at panning and AI Servo. I deleted a heap but this one was ok, would have been better still with a different background. No 4 is a tad OOF as I was trying to guess the landing and had prefocused.

All shot with the 70-200 IS.

No.1

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Very good -no 1 is a good one, maybe a wall hanger. The one coming to land on AI is also a winner without that bgd...

wow very good and so sharp. i cant wait for the rest of your shots from the day, and the others that were there.

Magnificent first shot!
And well done capturing both the eagle and the crow in the frame like that.

Carzee wrote in post #2148688
Very good -no 1 is a good one, maybe a wall hanger. The one coming to land on AI is also a winner without that bgd...

Nick C. wrote in post #2148991
Magnificent first shot!
And well done capturing both the eagle and the crow in the frame like that.

Ospi wrote in post #2148810
wow very good and so sharp. i cant wait for the rest of your shots from the day, and the others that were there.

Thanks guys. I'm quite happy with how no 1 turned out. Got a few more threads here and in Nature Reese - and still more to process.

great shots greg, all my flight ones were no good. Love the impact of no1. What a magnificent bird!

Thats an impressive looking Eagle.....largest on the planet right? That handler is wise to have protection right up to the elbow. Nice captures of an amazing creature.

Number 1 is a ripper Greg and yeah pity about the background for the in flight shot.

Gary, they grow to about 105 cm in height and wing span of 210-220 cm. Not sure how that compares with the Golden or Baldy.

Great photos. I really like the last one as it gives a good size comparison between the bird and the handler. Quite an impressive wing span!

nice work greg!

#2:
I have seen similar scene a lot of times. Never figured out what is the purpose of this kind of flight, a raven or crow with an eagle. At times they have a steam or something that alternative gets and thrown by one of them. Is this a ritual "Diversity" flight or show off of the macho.

catsith wrote in post #2150843
great shots greg, all my flight ones were no good. Love the impact of no1. What a magnificent bird!

Thanks Tina

Gary Fairhead wrote in post #2151475
Thats an impressive looking Eagle.....largest on the planet right? That handler is wise to have protection right up to the elbow. Nice captures of an amazing creature.

Thanks Gary. As Trace says they are up there amongst the biggest.

Trace wrote in post #2151647
Number 1 is a ripper Greg and yeah pity about the background for the in flight shot. Gary, they grow to about 105 cm in height and wing span of 210-220 cm. Not sure how that compares with the Golden or Baldy.

Thanks Trace.

Zipline wrote in post #2151649
Great photos. I really like the last one as it gives a good size comparison between the bird and the handler. Quite an impressive wing span!

Thanks. The handler said wild birds had been known to take out wallabies up to 60kg. Keep and eye on your small children.

shayb wrote in post #2152052
nice work greg!

Thanks Shay

samsen wrote in post #2152138
#2:
I have seen similar scene a lot of times. Never figured out what is the purpose of this kind of flight, a raven or crow with an eagle. At times they have a steam or something that alternative gets and thrown by one of them. Is this a ritual "Diversity" flight or show off of the macho.

Thanks for looking. I actually have another frame with three in it. Peewee, Crow and Eagle.

Very nice indeed. Good job Greg.

Thanks Reyno

Hey Greg,

I just found this thread. I was wondering where your photos were. Well done. The first one is stunning (and turned out great as a watercolour).