Noonish at the Airport

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kyleb

Final Approach
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Drake the Outlaw
I was at the airport (VPC - Cartersville, GA) today at lunch, saw a big bird, then a flash of white. I couldn't exactly tell what kind of bird it was, but I remembered I had the DSLR with a decent lens in the car...

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He was up pretty high - maybe 500', so I had to crop the original, even though I was using <effectively> a 450MM lens. Regardless, I thought it was pretty cool. I've never seen one of these so close to home...
 
I wish I’d had a camera when I was up in Alaska and an eagle flew on the bow wave of the pickup for a bit.
 
When I first moved into my house there were 2 Golden Eagles hanging around the hill across from me. Every summer I would see them soaring in the air currents above my house, usually with 2 or 3 slightly smaller Eagles with them. I got to watch them every summer for 6 years, then I never saw them again.
 
I see them from time to time. They make it clear that it's THEIR airspace.
 
I live on a hill and the hawks and eagles soar over the ridgeline along the edge of my street.

I used to mess with my kids when they were little and tell them to keep an eye on those huge birds because they would carry them away... :eek::eek:
 
Sac Arrow said:
That is a very nice photo!
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Thank you. I wish I'd had time to get the exposure set a little better - needed more light. Also, the BIG lens was at home.

But you go with what you've got when the opportunity presents itself.
 
They were getting to be like starlings around Vancouver Lake, near my old home field VUO in Vancouver WA. They like to circle around the lake at 1,000' AGL, which is right where VUO traffic enters and departs the pattern. They would come pretty close to my yellow Sport Cub, and I'm pretty sure I saw an upraised middle wingtip feather a time or two.
 
AKBill said:
Eagles hang out at the dump in Juneau.....
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I saw an eagle come out of the trash can outside McDonald's. That really did not instill a sense of pride in me at that time...

But the Sitka airport made me feel special one day by blasting cracker rounds in the sky above the runway before I took off.
 
I hit one coming in to land in a King Air. It was a juvenile (they are brown and blend in well with fall colors in alaska) I never saw him until I had a windshield full of him, he broke the first pane of the copilots side window. I was coming right through the cut in Juneau, and that eagle wasn’t the only thing that was brown on that day.
 
AKBill said:
Eagles hang out at the dump in Juneau.....
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The trees next to the runway in Juneau have been removed as part of the runway enlargement. There was always an eagle or two there and we saw them all the time there.
 
I had one of those attack the 172 that I was renting out when I was a student. He was a little above me and going the same direction. When he saw me coming, he turned on a dime and dove at my windshield. I assumed the bridge that I was flying over belonged to him and never violated his airspace again.
 
Zeldman said:
I saw an eagle come out of the trash can outside McDonald's. That really did not instill a sense of pride in me at that time...

But the Sitka airport made me feel special one day by blasting cracker rounds in the sky above the runway before I took off.
Click to expand...

I still mostly enjoy seeing the ones that nest around our ranch, but did lose a lot of the majestic awe of them after losing 9 calves over a couple weeks a few years back. Neighbors kept telling us they thought the first few calves were killed by eagles. I thought that was far fetched until one called and said a group of eagles are eating one of your calves over here that they just killed. Got there and saw the carnage first hand - impressive.
 
We had a pair of bald eagles show up circling over our airport last year. I wasn't able to run and get the camera fast enough.
 
kyleb said:
I was at the airport (VPC - Cartersville, GA) today at lunch, saw a big bird, then a flash of white. I couldn't exactly tell what kind of bird it was, but I remembered I had the DSLR with a decent lens in the car...

View attachment 103890

He was up pretty high - maybe 500', so I had to crop the original, even though I was using <effectively> a 450MM lens. Regardless, I thought it was pretty cool. I've never seen one of these so close to home...
Click to expand...

Awesome picture! wow.

Luckily we have them around also, seeing more and more of them. My dentist is a volunteer state bird watcher/ counter. He has told me a couple times that birds of prey have made great comeback once DDT and probably other pesticides were outlawed.
Turkey vultures also have made a big comeback in these parts. There was a deer carcass side of the road with about 40 vultures having a feast. Quite startling for the passing motorist! lol

See lots of turkeys also in the suburbs.

Lastly about 10 days ago I came face to face with American bald eagle when I was turning base to final at leebottom which is along the Ohio river. Luckily we missed each other, I could clearly see it was a eagle.
 
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We have quite a few around here anymore. Normally could only see them near the river, but starting to see them further and further from it every year. If we drive by the river we can easily see 20+ different adult (bald) birds and many more young ones in the tree tops and soaring above the water. Quite a sight, but I thing they are starting to really impinge on the other wildlife (pheasants, etc)
 
Eastern Shore of Maryland has been flush with them in recent years. I have seen them often just under pattern altitude at W29, often see them fighting with the turkey buzzards for the deer carcasses on the side of the road, particularly in the winter. They used to just fly by the front porch of our house as I was porch sittin'.

Sighting them never gets old, I remember zoo tours as a kid telling me they were really close to going away forever.

Is that communism? Crap.
 
Advice for flying near Eagles, and other large birds.

The instinctive response to danger while flying is to dive, often completely folding their wings.
NEVER fly under any bird you are not willing to collide with.

I have flown near Eagles Bald and Golden, other raptors, and various buzzards, and they all react the same.

A seeming exception, often buzzards will hold their altitude as I fly by close to them, identical altitude, but that was in Florida, with a low ceiling and poor thermals. They seemed to be unwilling to give up that hard earned altitude, at only 800 AGL.
 
catmandu said:
Eastern Shore of Maryland has been flush with them in recent years. I have seen them often just under pattern altitude at W29, often see them fighting with the turkey buzzards for the deer carcasses on the side of the road, particularly in the winter. They used to just fly by the front porch of our house as I was porch sittin'.
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Last Saturday, I was on base to final in an RV12 (max dem. xwind=11 kts). Wind was direct crosswind 020@8G18, with AWOS reporting 27 kts earlier. As I was rehearsing in my mind my approach speed, crosswind technique, and reminding myself I could just go around, I saw an Bald Eagle up and to my right against the bright blue sky. I started singing "America", and all was good. Crabbed on final, kept my speed at 65 kts, then side slipped in on short final, right wheel down, left down and nailed the landing. :yes:
 
geezer said:
A seeming exception, often buzzards will hold their altitude as I fly by close to them, identical altitude, but that was in Florida, with a low ceiling and poor thermals. They seemed to be unwilling to give up that hard earned altitude, at only 800 AGL.
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I'll vouch for that. The turkey buzzard that left his imprint, along with blood and feathers on my left leading edge will too. We were around 1,000 ft and climbing slowly under the KDAB Charlie outer shelf
At least it buffed out pretty well.
 
JOhnH said:
I'll vouch for that. The turkey buzzard that left his imprint, along with blood and feathers on my left leading edge will too. We were around 1,000 ft and climbing slowly under the KDAB Charlie outer shelf
At least it buffed out pretty well.
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I hit a turkey buzzard at about 55 mph while riding my motorcycle. When I saw it coming I ducked, and it hit right square on the top of my helmet. I think having someone hit me in the helmet with a full swing of a baseball bat would have hurt less, and I don't know how I stayed upright on the motorcycle. I have never been the kind of person that wants to needlessly cause harm to any animal, but it hit me so hard/hurt so bad that a part of me wanted that bird dead! I think I'm an inch shorter now....
 
Country Flier said:
I hit a turkey buzzard at about 55 mph while riding my motorcycle. When I saw it coming I ducked, and it hit right square on the top of my helmet. I think having someone hit me in the helmet with a full swing of a baseball bat would have hurt less, and I don't know how I stayed upright on the motorcycle. I have never been the kind of person that wants to needlessly cause harm to any animal, but it hit me so hard/hurt so bad that a part of me wanted that bird dead! I think I'm an inch shorter now....
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Ouch. It was much less painful hitting it with the wing of a ton and a half of Bonanza.
 
Had my GoPro on the wing tiedown, captured some sort of raptor passing by on the left side.
Comes by about five seconds in, just above the horizon.

Ron Wanttaja
 
I'll never forget sitting at the edge of a cut soybean field deer hunting in Iowa and it was snowing to beat heck. I had a couple inches of show built up on my shoulders and arms from sitting so long. I heard a spine tingling screech from overhead. After a while I looked up and saw 4 bald eagles circling down over me. They were heading to one of the last sections of open water on the river behind me. Pretty darn cool (well... It was cold actually. Really cold.)
 
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