Wedge-Tailed Eagles' feeding frenzy.

[hotspur]

A few people on IIS asking how the trail cameras I recently purchased are going,bought some more-a Bushnell 199466c arrived a week ago,put it out on a vermin carcass on Wednesday night,a pair of Wedge-Tails came in at 6 pm and started feeding,they came back next morning at 6.30 am and finished it off.

Here is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ-6YVXN4Q4&feature=youtu.be

also the view of the eagles and the trail cam,taken from my bedroom window,just a basic 'in situ' photo,(taken with 400 mm),you can see the cam.

These eagle pretty smart-watch the female look right into the cam a few times.Fairly difficult to get reasonable trail cam images of larger predator animals.

WARNING-video may offend some viewers who are veegans or vegetrians,contains images of dead animal-so if your a bit sqeamish,
its not for you.

[naskies]

Very interesting - thanks for sharing! How's the compression level on the footage? Just wondering whether it can handle any post processing work, or is it good mainly for direct viewing?

[Baddad]

Hi Chris,

That is fantastic. I like to observe wildlife. The way those birds kept watching for threats and feeding is normal.

You have some great footage there.

Cheers

[hotspur]

Thanks Dave and Marty,glad so many here have had a look at the video clip.

Dave-these cams,the camera seems quite basic,it constant F 3.1,and some how senses light and sets timing for footage for photo,I've taken some stills from this video,and will have a fiddle.The I.R sensor I would imagine would be more sophisticated than the camera bit.This model trail cam does have audio,but already wondering how I can fiddle it-say a mike in that rock crack with thin cable back to cam-we could hear the flesh getting torn off bones.But I think this footage could be improved in PP Dave,some footage and pics expose very well,while others not as well,overall-there good value for money

.Its all a bit new for me-I have only had this cam for a week,so learning.In this video I wanted to give the viewer a feel for the habitat,and the general look of country.next time when trying to get Wedge Tail footage,I will try and position the camera closer to the carcass.I have about 5 of these clips,and another one when sun on different angle-it appears quite good too.The forums in U.S have gone gang busters on this-they have never seen wedge-tailed eagles before.

Yes,Marty-I enjoy all aspects of wildlife watching-these trail cams could open up some interesting viewing.I hope to get a carcass and have,say a dispute over it by an eagle and dingo or dingos fight over it or similar.

I'll post up some more details and images when I get a chance.I have two units-they can take a bit of time for me to position,and calibrate-but maybe because its all a bit new.

[Baddad]

Hi Chris,

I have a roll of high quality microphone cable. I can give you 50M or so. PM me. We are not half an Earth apart. The cable is shielded, the conducters silver plated with high temperature insulation.

Cheers

[hotspur]

Great!,PM sent.imagine getting dingo footage of them howling with great audio too:D

[leon]

Wow Chris that is some amazing stuff, you live close to paradise i reckon, well done indeed.

Leon

[hotspur]

Thanks Leon,its been a lot of work and time,to get all the pieces of the puzzel
to line up,had plenty of months this year,where things have not worked out-and got nill results.I had a cam on cow guts from local mobile butcher-he monitored the site for me,said there were eagles feeding,and then pack of dingos cleaned up guts over night-so looked forward to picking up SD card,only to find cattle had bumped the camera out of line and got no footage at all-very deflating to walk up to the cam and in instant know it was all going to be a dud.So rather relieved to have it work out,I picked up some footage of a black and tan dingo at this site this morning at 3.40 am,so know there is more work ahead.

Dave-spoke with son,who is doing video editing course-he said the footage can be adjust in curves and contrast.

Cheers Chris

[Glenhuon]

Great footage Chris. :thumbsup: While I was working in the Murchison in WA I tried to get some shots of the Wedgetails, with not a lot of success with my modest film camera. My old workmate told me they will eat untill they can hardly fly, and spend the next few days digesting it. He was brought up in Wiluna and so had most of a lifetime to observe them. Planning a trip up that way soon, so might be luckier with todays gear.

Bill