This is the same Turkey Vulture I’ve featured in recent posts as part of the the educational and flight demonstration program at the Center for Birds of Prey, this time showing off his flight skills.
Turkey Vultures are impressive with their flight skills, easily making sharp turns, using their wings to full advantage.
It was very cool to see this one glide just above the ground, with seemingly little effort.
The Center for Birds of Prey, Awanda, SC
June 24, 2021
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Danger, danger, fly, fly!
Can you spot the Eagle?
This island has a lot of advantages for nesting birds, but it is not without risk. This time the Eagle appeared to leave without a meal.
About a half hour later it happened again. We were further away from the action and I didn’t capture the Eagle, but this view gives an idea of how many birds are nesting on this little island. And how unconcerned the Pelicans appeared.
Taken from a boat at Bird Key Stono Heritage Preserve
Between Kiawah Island and Folly Beach, SC
July 12, 2021
I know, not the most attractive bird up close with the bald head, but check out the feather colors.
The blues and browns shown in the morning sun.
The Center for Birds of Prey, Awanda, SC
June 24, 2021
The one-eyed Red-tail Hawk at the Center for Birds of Prey has adapted and despite my not getting any decent pictures, he flies with ease.
At one point when he was on a post in front of us he turned away from the group, likely so he could face into the wind, which was steady with gusts that morning.
But he was quick to turn back, the wind fluffing up his feathers was preferable to not seeing movement in front of him.
The Center for Birds of Prey, Awanda, SC
June 24, 2021
Another un-releasable bird that is part of the educational and flight demonstration program at the Center for Birds of Prey is this Turkey Vulture. He was “rescued” when a passerby spotted him on the ground, the normal nesting spot for Turkey Vultures, and took him home. The bird subsequently imprinted on the human and now cannot live in the wild on his own.
The Center for Birds of Prey, Awanda, SC
June 24, 2021
This Red-tailed Hawk is a part of the educational and flight demonstration program at the Center for Birds of Prey.
Due to the program setup I was not on the side to see his fully lit body but got backlighting of his tail, which is quite pretty.
A key take-away lesson from the center is Don’t Litter! This bird lost his right eye after being hit on a roadway, most likely trying to catch prey that somewhere down the food chain was after something discarded from a vehicle. The medical team was able to remove the eye and he recovered from his other injuries, however he cannot safely be released as he cannot reliably hunt to feed himself.
The Center for Birds of Prey, Awanda, SC
June 24, 2021
Framing of a scene by a tree can be good, lending a natural composition element to a bird image, like this Barred Owl.
It was still good as he swiveled his head to check out something above us.
But then as he bent down I knew…
…the framing would keep me from catching the action.
I did get kind of a cool picture of his powerful talons.
This Osprey was ahead of as we boated the canal at Okefenokee Swamp.
We would spot him, get just about close enough for an interesting image and off he’d go.
We repeated this series several times over an hour and never saw him fish.
April 29, 2021
An owl’s wing will stretch a long way, and this one nicely showed off the striped feather markings.
A few seconds later, all feathers back in place.
The establish pair of Barred Owls at Magnolia Plantation had two chicks this year but it seems just one survived once they left the nest which I featured yesterday in my post Barred Owl Owlet.
This is one of the parents that was watching from 100 feet (30 Meters) away.
I got distracted from photographing while pointing out the adult, then the chick, to an interested passing couple. One of them had never seen a live owl of any kind and was extremely excited, which made my day.
May 16, 2021
