Harpy Eagle

I recently unearthed an album of my 16th birthday present... which was a whole day flying hawks, owls, and eagles. It was a fantastic day!

Now, this Harpy eagle was still being trained, and hadn't learned to pull up just before landing. He wasn't flown far - just from a fence to my arm, about 6m away - but my god when he landed! I learned to brace myself every time he came towards me. he had to then be taken off me and put back on the fence, and he struggled a bit with that. See, when he got hold of something, he didn't like letting go. That included me, the bird guy, the fence... he only let go to fly. he wasn't good at hopping from one glove to another, so getting him off me and then off the bird guy was hilarious.