Hello John.
Re-reading what I wrote can be miss-construed as I deleted an explanative sentence because it was clumsy English. What I should have said is: If you've not been attacked by a raptor during a significant period of soaring the only avian you should treat with real caution is the Australian Pelican. (for reasons previously described). Raptors do have a variable response to individual glider pilots and I've ample evidence - from many Aus. soaring pilots to back up this statement. Why?. I don't know yet but believe they have more senses than we realize. NOW; A request to all. Some years ago - while visiting friends in the US - I looked out of their condo. window and spotted a bloke flying a magnificent falcon in the community park. As I got down to the park she returned to his gauntlet and tho. jess'd, remained unhooded . Approaching them and while introducing myself to him she began to chirrup and allowed me to stroke her. So began an instant friendship with her owner who happened to be the Professor of Ornithology of a well known US university. We spoke for many hours over the next two days discussing Australian Raptors and I promised to write a paper for him on the subject. However, on returning home, I found I'd placed his contact details in a "secret place" and they only came to light a couple of days ago. Any way, it seems sensible to include all of your experiences in my paper. I've attached a fairly long list of questions and will appreciate you returning your experiences to me. With thanks. Noel. From: Aus-soaring [ <mailto:[email protected]> mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Gwyther (BIGPOND) Sent: Friday, November 18, 2016 6:13 AM To: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Eagle attacks (Noel Roediger) I think Noel's comment that we only need worry about Pelicans causing us mid-air catastrophe is a bit unwise. I suffered an eagle mid-air in Spring some years back wherein it rolled on its back about 200' above me and dropped straight down. This after putting up with me for 2-3 turns in the thermal. It struck mid-span right on the spar cap with a helluva bang, leaving a big visible dent (on the spar cap!) and causing $8,000 worth of damage. I shudder to think what a couple of kilos doing 50-60 knots vertically would have done if it hit the cockpit, the tail boom, the tailplane, etc. I've soared with eagles many times over 50+ years of soaring and they are predictably aggressive in Spring and especially so when they have young with them. Prior to the above incident, their attack was always a steep head-on dive that was easy to spot and evade. I now choose to leave the thermal if they manoeuvre to above me within 1-200 feet. That said, they are still a magnificent sight that inspires awe in the air up close - that beak, those eyes and the way their small wing-top feathers dance in the turbulent flow. I still can't outclimb them but, interestingly, I have outclimbed Sea-eagles once or twice. Maybe that is because they don't seem to climb too high the way Wedgies do. Cheers John Gwyther
Sharing Soaring Flight with Avians.docx
Description: MS-Word 2007 document
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