Wedge-tailed Eagles: Learning to fly —
by Susan Willemse

Description:

Wedge-tailed Eagles: Learning to fly show the two eagles we watched grow up from one-week-old chicks to flying teenagers. "Down by the eagle's nest" is our special place, with a river between us, a waterfall and a mountain edge it was an amazing experience to photograph these magnificent birds so named for the shape of their tails over a period of months. We learned a lot, what they ate for Sunday breakfast- cockatoo, how the weather affects them- Mom holds her wings over them, how fragile they are when their food supply is altered through man from culls, to rabbit poisoning, to housing development, how sharp their eyes were, how big their feet are and how they like to sunbathe with those feet in the air. Something special for everyone to experience even if just once in their lifetime. These same Eagles are sometimes seen flying outside our kitchen window, the smaller birds go quiet when this happens, glance skywards and then run for cover under a tree. It is nice to know they are there still. I have tried to capture some of this with the winter mist in this artwork.