Hawks, eagles, owls & vultures

[Kermit power]

We took the kids to the Hawk Conservancy Trust near Andover yesterday.

For anyone who likes trying to get shots of birds of prey in flight, this is a truly wonderful place! They have various different displays through the day, so there's lots of opportunity to screw up but still come away with some nice shots. Just take lots of memory cards, and remember that even the guy next to me with a 300mm f2.8 L sticking out of the end of his top end Canon body didn't bother trying to capture the Peregrine at full diving speed!

Anyway, on to the pictures... What do you think? I know there's a lack of sharpness on many of them, but how often do you get the opportunity to practice this sort of shot!

Edited by Kermit power on Monday 10th August 09:42

Edited by Kermit power on Monday 10th August 09:43

Edited by Kermit power on Monday 10th August 09:45

[Kermit power]

In case anyone is wondering why there are so many edits, for some reason I can only post the first Tawny Owl twice or not at all. I am

[CVP]

[quote=Kermit power

[/quote]

I like the composition of this one. It's a super location and the huge vulture int he flying displays is just amazing, comes in inches over your head like a B52!

Chris

[Kermit power]

CVP said:

[quote=Kermit power

I like the composition of this one. It's a super location and the huge vulture in the flying displays is just amazing, comes in inches over your head like a B52!

Chris

The hooded vulture isn't the biggest one they've got there, but they fly six of them all at once, and yes, they really are that close! You can feel the air disturbance as they go overhead.

The owl and the vultures are in two different display areas, but they both back onto meadows, so you can get really natural backgrounds to them, which is nice.

[havoc]

Some great shots (I remember my visit to the Cotswold B-o-Prey centre a couple of years back).

Especially like the last capture - great pose, and nicely sharp too!

[CVP]

Kermit power said:

The hooded vulture isn't the biggest one they've got there, but they fly six of them all at once, and yes, they really are that close! You can feel the air disturbance as they go overhead.

The owl and the vultures are in two different display areas, but they both back onto meadows, so you can get really natural backgrounds to them, which is nice.

Isn't their biggest the Griffon Vulture? I seem to recall that one being simply huge.

Love the Secretary bird, very cool indeed, a very bizzare bit of evolution to evolve to hunt snakes by kicking and stamping them to death.

I do love Barn Owls though, such beautiful birds and so very English

Chris

[Kermit power]

Here's a couple more off the other memory card - A bald eagle on final approach.