Raptor Close ups (Dial up warning) 14 photos

Hope you enjoy some from out of my closet
Lou
1barred owl


2 Great horned owl


3 Saw Whet owl


4 Red Shoulder Hawk

Canon EOS 20D    ---    700mm    f/5.6    1/500s    ISO 400

 

5 Screech Owl


6 Red Shoulder hawk nesting


7 Great Horned owl


8 Barred owl


9 Snow owl in training for Falconry
View attachment 89709

 

10 Young male Snow owl in training for Falconry


11 Young male Snow owl in training for Falconry


12Young male Snow owl in training for Falconry


1312Young male Snow owl in training for Falconry

 

14 Close up of a 10 year old female golden eagle, she is beautiful but blind in one eye and hails from Cody Wyoming

 

Thanks Gale and don't miss the last one as she is a beauty and BIG

 

Thanks Dan yes there is a thing about owls. They are with out a doubt the best raptor god placed on this earth with wings. I wish I had the time to tell you of all the things I have learned about owls at the raptor center. You would not believe some of the things they are capable of.
Lou

 

To this exact day Gale I don't know of it's condition but it was not a case of being rehabbed but a case where it was taken (bought) and within the law for falconary. Now the thing none of us could figure was why would any person with the smarts to hold a falconary liecence get a young owl let alone a snow owl who belongs on the tundra and not in New York. It's to warm. Get a red tail or a Harris Hawk. Every once in a while one will filter down here to the Catskill Mtns. and a lot of the time they die.
Lou

 

Gary, I am about 3 feet from this bird and she has not raised one hackel. Being this close to a golden will give you a shiver from head to toe as they are just so beautiful and large. Now here is a raptor that makes for some exciteing falconry. Only 5 licenced Falconers in the USA hold a licence for the golden and one of them just lost his while hunting it as believe it or not because of a bunch of crows. He is out west right now trying for another and if he is sucessfull I might get to be in on the training of it. Here is a neat story by a friend about how the golden eagle got it's name. Try it you'll like it.
http://www.dvrconline.org/goldenhackles.html
O yeah I even took a close up of the bad eye and made a very good 8 X 10 and took it to my optimogilist for him to take a look at it. He said he could not do much from a photo and He did not want a bird with 8 foot wings and 3 inch talons for a patient.:smile: :smile:
Lou

 

Thanks Dianne, hard to beat owls and a golden eagle when you can get up close to them. I need to make another trip for some work down there so I will visit all my favorites. The red shoulder in the snow was selected for the Xmas card for the center for this year but a FF one in the snow.
Lou