doin the eagle rock

[avkomp]

when I saw the wedgewail waddling along, I somehow thought of the 1971 song by daddy cool. shows my age I guess. d5 600f4 tc17 1/2000 f8 iso 1600.
full frame image but some cropped off lhs to make 5x4. was a bit of roo carcass and I felt that it not need to be there.

[Isac]

Well presented photo Stephen. Great action!
"Now listen, ah we're steppin' out .... I'm just crazy 'bout the way we move" Well it is certainly strutting it's stuff!
I still sing "Eagle Rock" in my band and it's one of the most popular songs we play!

[kevinj]

Great catch,he looks like he`s on a mission.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day mate

First impressions - "bluddy ripper of a pic - fabulous"
Then I started to look a bit more - feather colouring shows that the bird is a juvenile; the look of intense gaze is beaut; the focus is sharp as a tack ... so I reckon that you're onto a winner here. Well done!

Phil

[avkomp]

thanks folks. I think I was lucky to get into full frame territory on this bird. and it let me do it on 2 days running. we have 3 wedgies around here. 2 parents and last years juvenile as far as I can tell. possibly even working one one for this year too. but last time I saw them on the ground, I took the usual pix right away for insurance and then worked closer, taking insurance pix at each stop. you never walk right at any wildlife, or make eye contact if possible as they will see it as a threat and go. I zigzaggerd at 30 or more degrees to cover, and got insurance pix, then zigzagged back the other way . you reckon eagles can see pretty well and were aware of me but when I got to about 100 m or so off they went.
this time I did the same again but after 100m I had no cover so went for it, slowly and in the open but aiming to pass within 50m. for whatever reason, and I suspect the ravens and magpies, the eagle kept feeding and ducking, cast a gaze in my direction often but clearly not worried cos I clearly wasnt heading in his direction. this picture is of him waddling (eagle rock fashion) back to the carcass after having been driven off by the magpies. he landed perhaps 10m away from the carcass and then made a beeline back again to start feeding. in all I was able to get 100 or so feeding and fighting pix. I wanted pantaloon and talon pix and got a few. I was a tad further back than the day earlier cos I was hoping for a wing spread pic and needed room to cover that. sadly when the magpies and ravens did chase if fully off, it was directly away from me. into the wind. I wouldnt have got a shot had I been with the wind behind me, cos of heavy cover etc, but I did have the light from where I was.

Isac, tis funny that of all songs, you knew the eagle rock song. I always think about the clip for that song when I see a wedgetail waddling along.

I posted 2 short vids on my youtube channel. I often forget that I can shoot video these days.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZp..._as=subscriber
the 20 sec one is from the first time there. 50 second one from 2nd day and shows the magpies causing grief.
first one, I forgot my hat in haste to get there and found glare of the liveview bad so I shot it not seeing what I was doing. luck autofocus got it
2nd one I had a loupe with me so able to see. was further back so I may be able to get wingspread. but couldnt

[Isac]

Good story with how you got all those shots Stephen. I checked out the Youtube clips and they are great. Keep it up!

[HansE]

Inspiring Stephen. Your results are a reward for all that skill and effort.