Mongolia Project Blog - Photographing the Eagle Hunters

[D_Clear]

Hi All,

I invite you to read my blog about my trip to western Mongolia last December and photographing the Eagle Hunters with the Phase XP and Broncolor MOVE.

You can read about it it here, http://blog.dermotcleary.com happy to answer any questions.

Dermot Cleary

[NancyP]

thanks. There is  a Ph.D. ornithologist and a few raptor fans on the forum. No falconers, AFAIK. I have bookmarked the blog for later.

[D_Clear]

The Kazakh Eagle Hunters use Golden Eagles, not falcons, for what it's worth Nancy

D

[Krug]

There is one - at least - retired (because of age ) falconer on the forum Nancy .... who much enjoys the various bird of prey pictures occasionally posted ... and D_Clear it is still properly referred to as "falconry" whether the bird being flown is an accipiter (hawk) a falcon or an eagle - the term refers to the activity and its skills which are broadly common to all species.

[Robert DeCandido PhD]

I am here in Nepal at my research site in the Annapurna Mountains...watching this discussion from afar. As a scientist I have mixed opinions about birds taken from the wild to be used for display though it is a long-standing cultural thing to do in Mongolia as well as China. So I will post a couple of photos of species that nest in Mongolia and migrate through Nepal...Cinereous Vulture and Steppe Eagle.

[Krug]

As a (retired) falconer I have a perhaps surprising degree of agreement with Robert DeCandido - I too am totally opposed to birds being taken from the wild for any purposes except properly controlled - and strictly monitored - breeding programs where species protection/revival is concerned.

[Rob C]

I've seen a few very high-flying (pre-glaucoma!) black vultures here in the Mallorcan mountains (Tramuntana). I think they were reintroduced by some German people. Remember vultures very clearly from my India days; amazing how an oversized turkey can fly so well!

There's the old saw that goes: "It's hard to soar with the eagles when you are working with turkeys." I never argue with those guys; they have probably never seen a vulture close up...

Great pictures.

Rob C