Birds of Prey

[Civchic]

The bald eagle and the Gyrfalcon were shot through chicken-wire type fencing. Ugh, that stuff is a challenge. The kestrel was part of a flight show with a question and answer period after. They are all rescued birds deemed ineligible for wild release (whether due to injury or human imprint), living at the Mountsberg Conservation Raptor Centre. Every weekend throughout the summer they do a couple of daily bird shows, two birds per show. It's pretty cool.

Gyrfalcon:
aug 10 gyrfalcon by civgirlca, on Flickr

American Kestrel:
aug 10 american kestrel by civgirlca, on Flickr

And the baldy. What a gorgeous, intimidating bird.
aug 10 baldie profile by civgirlca, on Flickr

This front-on shot is a bit soft at the tip of his beak, but I still love it.
aug 10 bald eagle by civgirlca, on Flickr

 

[Raj_55555]

Lovely shots, specially the third one has great clarity.. I regularly shoot through these annoying fences, here's a tip you may try.. I've noticed that playing with the contrast, white and black sliders help remove most of the ugly white patches these fences leave behind in the shot.. Here's a quick edit for you of the third one, I intentionally went for a darker tone.. I hope you like it .. Changes -> -100 Black, +38 White, +.25 exposure.
I also removed the strand on the left..

 

[Civchic]

I do like it Raj, thanks! I chickened out on the sliders before I got that far - I didn't want it to look overcooked, but it doesn't. I notice you got rid of my random stick in the background too.

 

[Raj_55555]

I do like it Raj, thanks! I chickened out on the sliders before I got that far - I didn't want it to look overcooked, but it doesn't. I notice you got rid of my random stick in the background too.

Unless you touch the clarity or the sharpness sliders, they usually won't look overcooked. I did try to sharpen up the feathers, but then decided against it.. I'm glad you like it civ!