Well the weather was lousy for my trip to the mountains but i did have an excellent experience on my drive up there.
Not far out of Canberra and approching Namadji National park i spotted a Wedgtail getting harrased by a Magpie, so i drove of the road into a paddock.
I got out of the car with camera in hand hopping it would fly closer to me when out of the corner of my eye i spotted a Magpie swooping something on the ground but could not see what it was as a rock was in the way.
So i started to walk towards the rock to investigate when all of a sudden a Wedgie jumped up on the rock right in front of me, could not believe my luck.
Wedge Tail Eagle-3326 by rawshorty, on Flickr">[/url] Wedge Tail Eagle-3326 by rawshorty, on Flickr
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Wedge Tail Eagle-3329 by rawshorty, on Flickr">[/url] Wedge Tail Eagle-3329 by rawshorty, on Flickr
After taking heaps of shots i thanked him and started to go back to the car when i discovered why he did not want to leave, there was a small dead Kangaroo that he had been eating ( not sure if they had killed the roo but it was too far from the road to be road kill).
Anyway i went back to the car and straight away he hopped to the roo so i could not help myself and went back to the Wedgie to get some eating shots but got too close and he tried to fly off with the roo, got a shot of him trying and then left him in piece to eat his meal.
Wedge Tail Eagle-3469 by rawshorty, on Flickr">[/url] Wedge Tail Eagle-3469 by rawshorty, on Flickr
More shots on my Flickr for those interested.
My husband and I had a look at the photos on Flickr, we are lost for words. What can we say? Just brilliant. Worth the trip , even if you never caught a single fish..
M-L
Wonderful, Shorty! There are plenty of raptors, but wedgies are just something else... if you know what I mean.
I was a bit concerned with the whole "so I drove of the road into a paddock" both from a spelling and a safety point of view. LOL.
Wow Wow Wow - what else can one say what wonderful luck
Diane
Wonderful shorty, looks like the second photo, you have caught him mid "blink", assuming it is the same bird as number 1? That is an experience I dream of. We had one fly over our car once, only a metre or so above us, we came round a corner, to find it mid road, eating. The WTE wingspan was wider than the car, and we could see right into his eyes. Stopped and moved his meal to a safe spot off the road, but of course not ready with camera while driving.
Thanks for sharing.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Fantastic pic's Shorty.
Didn't see as many on my trip north this year. Usually see quite a few north of Cadney park all the way to the top. Don't think i spotted one until past Renner springs. They may have worked out that road kill is not an easy feed as you see quite a few that have been killed by vehicles as they try and take off from the middle of the road .
Neil
Well that's a tad better than fishing, isn't it? Makes the sleet & snow worthwile I reckon shorty. Lucky lucky you, and wonderful, beautiful series of shots. I tend to agree with you, I think he may just have taken that small roo down himself too. Magnificent birds
West Coast Tasmania
M-L.......Thank you (and your husband) very much. Yep after getting these shots i really didn't care about the fish
Windshear.........I did slow down a bit before leaving the road. If you find any mistakes in my speeling, you can keep them
Diane......Thank you and yes it was all luck to find him.
Dale........Thank you and yep same bird. You don't have your camera ready while driving? shame on you My hazzard lights get a real workout when i am driving
Neil...........Thank you, that is really sad to hear that WT's become road kill. I have to say i have never seen one eating on the roads around Canberra.
Ruby........Thank you and yes it was the highlight of the trip
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Heh... I usually ignore people's spelling (it's a bad habit I'm trying to work myself out of), but it just sounded rather... amusing is all.
Wow.
Unbelievable Shorty ... great great pics and a terrific tale to tell ..... thanks for pointing me here .... I have only ever seen one in captivity ( I held it) or high up in the sky
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland