Paul's pics have me stirred up about something, I gotta tell you guys. I have seen large, eagle-like black birds very close up while sloping. I wonder if any of you also have crossed paths with these extraordinary birds and were as slack-jawed as I was as to their startling appearance and identity?
On one occasion, 2 of them, 5-6 feet wingspan, flying side by side, approached my 12' GENIE which may have been 50 to 100 feet away from me. I had a totally clear view of them and I tell you this: They were coal black, with feathered heads, black feet and black, hooked beaks. "Black eagle" is the only appropriate description. They were not those disgusting turkey buzzards. These were a different critter I had never seen before in my 35 odd years of soaring. Plain as day on the underside of each wing was a prominent, parallelogram-shaped marking made up of white/grayish feathers. On another occasion I saw two such large birds of that configuration thermalling at high altitude, side by side. No, they were not hawks or other familiar birds. The impression was that they were big and they were black, same as the birds at the slope. Yes, I know backlit stuff in silhouette all looks rather black. These were blacker. A web search for "Black Eagle Bird" will give many references to black eagles. Though not prevalent here, they are else-where in Africa, Malaysia and India. These guys may have an affluent breed doing a world tour to see what else there was of interest to eat. On another occasion when I was flying alone at Eagle Butte, one of the critters sidled up to my ship. > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
