Winter 2011 photo journal; Day 4 - Prevelly and Eagle's Heritage.

[moonvoice]

Echo the Barn Owl






Prevelly, at the rivermouth - It was so blustery and windy when we went here. It would momentarily break out into squally rains that were so heavy you couldn't see while driving with wipers on maximum. But what can I say? I love gloomy weather.





People were still surfing and stuff, though.





To the right of the same shot.





Moody skies, stormy beaches. - I find this weather so inspirational.





The powerful owl is the largest owl on the continent of Australia - it was rainy at Eagle's Heritage, when we went there. It is the largest raptor rehabilitation centre in the whole of Australia, and the birds of display are ones that absolutely cannot be rehabilitated into the wild either because they're too human friendly, have had broken legs and wings (or other ailments), or because they haven't learned how to hunt. Otherwise, Eagle's Heritage releases as many rehabbed birds as they possibly can.









A wet, bedraggled, Southern boobook - He had shelter available, but seemed to prefer sitting in the rain, looking out at the world. Including us.









Swamp Harrier





White-Bellied Sea Eagle









Black-Breasted Buzzard





Brahminy Kite





Black Kite - The following are also all black kites.













































Echo the Barn Owl

Comments

[ariestess]

I am completely and utterly in love with all of the raptors...

[moonvoice]

Aren't they beautiful? I love it there.

[ariestess]

They're gorgeous!

[drgnhlr]

Gorgeous birds!

[moonvoice]

They really are. :D

[skyfiery]

Oh, wow. I love your shots of the black kite!

[moonvoice]

Thank you! :D

[azhure]

You could totally make a name for yourself as a wildlife photographer. All of those shots are *amazing*.

I love the boobook owl so much!

[moonvoice]

Eee, thank you. I would love to do wildlife photography, if only to get good source photos for illustration! Lol.

[goddess_incarnate]

The eagles reminded me of the giant golden eagle in Rescuer's Down Under. :3 So awesome.

[moonvoice]

You mean the kites? (There was only one eagle and it was the white one). It always made me sad that the eagle in Rescuer's Down Under was a golden eagle instead of the wedgetail eagle. We don't even have golden eagles in Australia!

[lupagreenwolf]

Just amazing. What camera are you using again?

[moonvoice]

I'm using a Canon EOS 400D with the basic kit lenses provided. It was released in 2006, and there's far better 'starter SLRs' on the market now; but I love it all the same. I have a steady hand, which helps.

[white_rabbit]

<3 Barn owls. :D

These are all just unbelievably well shot. :D Did you have a telephoto lens for these or were you just able to get that close?

[moonvoice]

I'm using the basic kit zoom lens that comes with the Canon 400D. It does the trick. :) That said, we were able to get very close to the kites and the barn owl. I mean, I ended up having them perch on my arm! But because I had a zoom lens on the camera at the time, as opposed to a macro, I couldn't get proper shots of that.

[white_rabbit]

That's so awesome regardless. :D

'Scuse me while I go drool over the 400D.

[sundog]

I have...some sort of connection to Barn Owls and holy shit you captured them so well it's amazing.

[moonvoice]

<3 :D

[shimmerhawk]

Thanks for sharing these. It was especially fun to see the black kite in action.

[silverjackal]

I am inordinately fond of barn owls. :) Purely in terms of aesthetics, the soft blur of colour on their wings is wonderful. As for the rest, I'm particularly taken by the photos of the White-bellied Sea Eagle. You can just *see* the power -- beak and wing and fierce spirit. And your moody shoreline is also spectacular.

[gemfyre]

Gorgeous! I need to get down to that place and have a look. Have you seen the raptor display at Whiteman Park?

[moonvoice]

I haven't actually! And i should, because it's so close to where I live. What's it like?

[redsixwing]

That's a lovely harrier!

I like the photo of the kite where it's on the ground, thinking about taking off again. I know that look, it's the one that means I'm about to have a dove on my head. *chuckle*

[unaspenser]

So gorgeous! I think the sea eagle is my favorite. Very striking. I've always loved raptors. Boise, where I live, is home to the World Center for Birds of Prey which has a great rehab center with raptors from around the world. I love going to visit the birds there. :)

[jensurvivor]

The whole world is so fucking beautiful. Thank you so much for the pics.

[mirrorred_star]

Barn owls! ZOMG! Eleventy! They're so cool! I still have half a story somewhere on my computer where the main character is a barn owl shifter.

Also, sea eagle!