This photo is here to prove that one cannot always take good photos of eagles, even with a fairly long lens. This bird spotted me, (and they have far, far better eyes than we do, so that is not surprising) and it decided that I was acting suspiciously, so it simply half-closed its wings, and went into a "semi-dive" mode, and drifted across the sky and away from me, at about 35 Km per hour (without even a single flap of its wings), until it felt comfortably distant from me again, a which point it resumed singing the chorus from "Oklahoma" about making "lazy circles in the sky".
For those of you who do not know, this is a Wedge-tailed Eagle, perhaps the Australian bird with the best Latin Name ever: Aquila audax, which means "bold eagle" (not bAld, bOld, as in daring). The word audacious comes from the same origin.
This photo was taken last weekend, on the same day as I went with Zoe to Tidbinbilla. This was taken near Tharwa, in fact at "Lambrigg" which is where William Farrer did his pioneering research into breeding rust-resistent strains of wheat, which led to the development of the Australian Wheat industry. What John Howard and the mob of conservative free-loading privateers have done since, with the AWB, is not his fault, folks.
Miss Eagle is celebrating her ability to soar over the ridges of Upper Ferntree Gully, tomorrow. Have a nice day, Girl. Fly Free.
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