day in the life of a wedgetail

[avkomp]

got an admin request to repost some eagles from a little while back. consolidated from a few threads into one. 2 adult wedgies just wanted to feed on the roo carcass but all the other birds would have none of it. normally you cannot get close to eagles and things but this day was different. the magpies especially were merciless and constantly dive bombing them etc. so it actually worked in my favour because I was able to use trees and things as cover whilst zig zagging close to the eagles. I only moved when a head was down fending or they were fending off an attack. you never approach directly towards your target cos that suggests a threat also. I did take pix at each point in cover in case they flew or something. eventually I got to where I wanted to be. light behind me etc. so I got to experience some great scenes. got some video and lots of stills. something dragged the roo off the night after these pix too, so that was it.
all pix d5 600f4 tc17 (1000mm) iso 1600 1/2000- 1/2500 ish. all either full frame or cropped down to 5x4 from full frame
anyway some of the action:

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day Stephen

A wonderful series of images
12/10 from me

Phil

[Grumpy John]

Absolutely breathtaking images Stephen worthy of Nat Geo. Excellent sharpness and detail especially considering that you were using a 1.7 tele converter. Are those blowflies that can be seen in the 3rd picture.
Thank you so much for reposting.

[Ironwood]

Amazing images Stephen, nice work mate. The Wedgetails are an awesome bird.
A work colleague of mine told me he witnessed one take down a wild pig, when he was out in the bush about a year ago.

[David_MC]

Stunning shots. Great work.

[avkomp]

Thanks for the kind words folks.
yes those are blowflies visible in third pic and others.
High shutter speeds used in these with anticipation of fast action and being close enough for full frame means you are likely to capture plenty of detail. Also we're shot using the full wimberley head. No crawling involved, just stooping a bit and using cover. Moving only when they busy etc.

[SharonH]

Amazing.

[wigz]

Wonderful shots Stephen and excellent tactics to approach and get the shots.

[Isac]

I do remember these from way back Stephen. They were magic back then and magic now. TFS (again!)
As Grumpy John mentioned National Geographic would be a starting point.

[Grumpy John]

#3 would make a great promotional poster for the AFL, an Eagle and a Magpie fighting over a dead Kangaroo. If you're one of our upover members you may have to google the references.

[dolina]

The last photos with interaction is my favorite.