National Mall. Rains clouds broke and the sun was going down.

Me too! I've got an invite for next Fall when my buddy takes his Golden Eagle out to hunt Jack Rabbits.

No problem Bill.

To all: In Mongolia they actually use Golden Eagles to hunt wolves. Here's a link to just one video on YouTube (there are several):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaJ_xOY_QD4

If you go to the 9:30 minute mark you can see the hunt begin. Pretty impressive.

For sure. Golden Eagles have a 1200 psi clamp pressure with their talons. Glove is steel mesh reinforced. Interesting what you learn hanging around falconers.

A few additional pics.

The Harpy Eagle in Africa might be the largest in the world. Golden Eagle in the U.S. for sure.

It's not the quality of the photos here but rather that I got to check out both the smallest raptor (American kestrel) and largest raptor (Golden Eagle) from a falconer buddy in Tucson. Both are females. The Eagle is 24 yrs old! They can live to be 40 in some cases. Stupid grin on my face... no extra charge.

(Download)

Sometimes everything just works out. Just hanging out in my backyard to see what shows up at the bird bath. All of a sudden everything bolts so I know something was up. Sure enough, a visitor from Cooperstown flies in for a nightcap. ŽI had the perfect photography storm: 1) camera-in-hand, 2) interesting subject, and 3) low sun lighting. Water droplets visible in the first shot are from dipping its beak in to get a drink. Young Cooper's Hawks have blue eyes. Yearlings eyes are orange. They eventually change to red and get more intense with time. The deep ruby red eye color tells me this is a much older bird.

A big thumbs up.

Hmmm... a lot smaller than I remember.

Black Skimmer, Bateleur Eagle & Australian Crowned Pigeon.

Very first night air show a the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) fly in in Oshkosh, WI a few years back.

I thnk it was Ansel Adams that once said, "There’s nothing worse than a sharp picture of a fuzzy idea." Without creativity you are just documenting objects. To me, I guess it is the challenge of marrying creativity with technique and occasionally being pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

Cusco, Peru last September.

Just wondering if photographers taste like chicken.