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rgphoto777 β€” Majestic

Published: 2005-01-23 09:30:10 +0000 UTC; Views: 915; Favourites: 16; Downloads: 108
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Description Aquila chrysaetos, the Golden Eagle. Tonka is a resident of the San Diego Wild Animal Park. I caught this photograph of her during a Q&A session with her handlers. She is new to the Park but was extremely relaxed even when faced with a noisy crowd of people.

I would dearly love to see one of these impressive raptors in the wild some day.
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Comments: 34

Musquash [2008-02-15 02:58:42 +0000 UTC]

I photographed Tonka as well last year during my trip to San Diego Wild Animal Park. I must say you're photograph is much nicer though...Boy I sure do love eagles.

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chilipalmer [2006-04-09 22:28:47 +0000 UTC]

Stunning detail and great capture (The pose, exposure and colours)...

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nighthawkpm [2005-08-28 21:58:13 +0000 UTC]

Great capture, angle, DOF Love your work you are very talented

I still remmember the first time I saw a Golden Eagle. It landed on a fence post over a football field away. His(hers?) talons grasped the 4inch post without a problem - a hare would have felt the power.

I have only been lucky enough to truly "capture" one bird of prey in the wild [link] I ran up to this one took one pic and left - it was not a happy camper after its first flight landed it near a pickup with this land animal running at it. It had just flew out of a pine tree as we drove by (we did not know the nest was there).

Great Gallery!!! You should visit Hells Canyon (Idaho/ Oregon) on the Snake in the early spring. Bald eagles, deer, big horn sheep, mt goat, are common. You are not looking if you do not see 600 deer, or twenty bald eagles, at least on group of big horn sheep, a clump of snow that moves (mt goat), and wild turkey.

I grew up in small town idaho

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rgphoto777 In reply to nighthawkpm [2005-10-01 01:38:20 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Glad you dig my stuff, and sorry for the late reply--I don't update my photo gallery here on dA very often, so I forget to check for comments.

Wow, Hell's canyon sounds fantastic! I'll have to make a trip there some time.

I've yet to get a decent photo of a raptor in the wild, but WOW, your owl photo is phenomenal! The expression you captured on his face is electrifying. Nice work.

There are a mated pair of wild Goldens who live on the property of the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. I've only seen them once, but it was definitely something to behold. They weren't close enough to photograph, but it's something I'll definitely remember forever.

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nighthawkpm In reply to rgphoto777 [2005-10-01 03:03:38 +0000 UTC]

This was totally a be there at right time with camera and get it done shot -- drove under nest (did not know it was there or would have been more respectful) this one flew down and I being the passenger jumped out. I ran over and it stopped running away, turned, and made a sounds repeatedly like "pissed" and looked Wow -- I took one shot ! Ran back to the pickup wanting to let it be at peace -- I looked at the image (digital) and said something like YES!!! or I GOT IT! To me this my best ever wildlife picture. I Still remmember the Snowy Owl on a stump in winter (maybe two decades ago) -- without my camera -- the pic is in my mind but is fading !!

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Darkness-Flame8 [2005-03-05 01:52:05 +0000 UTC]

She's so beautiful ^-^ I love the expression she has. It seems like she's happy, and is smiling.

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rgphoto777 In reply to Darkness-Flame8 [2005-03-15 07:18:36 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! I think she is beautiful too. Birds of prey have an elegance about them that I've never seen in any other type of bird.

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Darkness-Flame8 In reply to rgphoto777 [2005-03-16 03:02:59 +0000 UTC]

All birds are elegant to me. But birds of prey.. Hmm, there large talons, wonderful sight. What's not to love?

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Kitalpha [2005-01-25 00:24:00 +0000 UTC]

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rgphoto777 In reply to Kitalpha [2005-02-06 02:48:34 +0000 UTC]

Aww, thanks, chum!

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Kitalpha In reply to rgphoto777 [2005-02-06 21:13:46 +0000 UTC]

it's just one of them photo's that hit's the spot

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renaisancexx [2005-01-23 22:00:34 +0000 UTC]

fantastic work...amazing bokeh!

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rgphoto777 In reply to renaisancexx [2005-01-23 22:23:16 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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renaisancexx In reply to rgphoto777 [2005-01-23 22:26:18 +0000 UTC]

your welcome!

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guffe [2005-01-23 21:55:41 +0000 UTC]

Brilliant capture. The subject is sharp, the depth of field perfect and the colors are simply gorgeus. Excellent work.

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rgphoto777 In reply to guffe [2005-01-23 22:25:36 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

The lighting was incredibly poor, and I'm limited a bit by the small aperture range of the telephoto I have, but I feel lucky to have pulled this off. She was too gorgeous not to try for a decent shot.

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mlfan [2005-01-23 20:40:00 +0000 UTC]

Nice shot, great depth of field Golden Eagles are beautiful - I'd love to see a wild one too.

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rgphoto777 In reply to mlfan [2005-02-06 03:09:22 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!
Apparently there are a few living on grounds of the San Diego wild animal park , but I haven't seen them yet.

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PtolemyKitty [2005-01-23 19:34:30 +0000 UTC]

this photo is amazing, I wish I could get that close to an animal like that here, you are an amazing photographer

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rgphoto777 In reply to PtolemyKitty [2005-02-06 03:13:40 +0000 UTC]

I'm a lucky photographer with a zoo/wild animal park visit who still has a lot to learn about her camera...

But thank you! I'm glad you enjoy my photography so much.

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PtolemyKitty In reply to rgphoto777 [2005-02-08 21:02:36 +0000 UTC]

your doing an awesome job so far, you should make prints of your photos

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rgphoto777 In reply to PtolemyKitty [2005-02-14 07:46:40 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

I might do that at some point. I don't know if I'd have any buyers, but it still might be fun. Who knows?

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robbobert [2005-01-23 16:17:13 +0000 UTC]

Really wonderful shot. Eagles are so intense and photogenic. It's hard to take a bad shot of them. The background is very nice as well. Great job.

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rgphoto777 In reply to robbobert [2005-02-06 03:24:53 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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AnnaRDunster [2005-01-23 15:44:17 +0000 UTC]

I've seen a few.. you don't usually see em close. often looks like a board floating in the sky far away, although at that distance can be hard to tell from the Bald eagle... now bald eagles.. there is one stretch of I-90 near ellensburg, WA (headed west from there) where you see plenty of bald eagles in the forests near the road, and osprey, and great blue herons.

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rgphoto777 In reply to AnnaRDunster [2005-02-06 03:43:28 +0000 UTC]

Yes, when I lived in WA, I remember seeing bald eagles quite a few times.

There was a mated pair who lived on Green Lake and another who lived on the shores of Lake Washington.

I've never seen an osprey, but I've seen lots of great blue herons both here in CA and in WA.

And just yesterday, I saw a black-shouldered kite hovering over a stretch of grass off of I-5 near San Diego. It was very cool.

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AnnaRDunster In reply to rgphoto777 [2005-02-06 06:57:32 +0000 UTC]

plenty of great blue herons, yep. I was sitting on a hill once at this grain elevator I worked at, 15 miles from ANYWHERE in eastern WA (and you know, in eastern WA, "anywhere" there, is 60 miles from what most people would consider anywhere ... was reading a book and happened to glance up... and a pair of great blue herons were flying by not 20 feet away.



My grandfather lives a 5-10 minute walk from the shores of lake washington, I went down there this spring, we saw quite a few bald eagles around. Many of them immature. Plenty more than a pair - but maybe the offspring of the ones you saw.

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syxx [2005-01-23 14:23:58 +0000 UTC]

Again looks as though youve got the bird to pose! Amazing stillness and patience captured in his eyes. Tonka suits him perfectly hehe.

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rgphoto777 In reply to syxx [2005-02-06 03:45:33 +0000 UTC]

Pure luck, chum, and LOTS of different shots--I must have taken 20-30 of this bird alone.

THank you.

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syxx In reply to rgphoto777 [2005-02-07 20:38:48 +0000 UTC]

No problem! Well, it was all worth it

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dleeming [2005-01-23 12:39:32 +0000 UTC]

the golden eagle is such a striking bird. It looks a lot like our wedge tailed eagle here in oz great shot

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rgphoto777 In reply to dleeming [2005-01-26 07:14:17 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!
I am totally fascinated by all raptors. Are wedge tailed eagles common or rare there?

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dleeming In reply to rgphoto777 [2005-01-27 01:06:16 +0000 UTC]

Me to… Wedge tailed eagles are quite common out of the capital city’s in rural and country areas. They keep our rabbit population down but also like road kill and often get hit by cars and trucks while feeding on the highways. It’s very sad to see.

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rgphoto777 In reply to dleeming [2005-02-06 02:45:43 +0000 UTC]

That is sad. That happens quite often here as well with hawks and owls.

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