This past week I went to see a birds of prey presentation by Jonathan Wood of The Raptor Project.

Compared to the last couple of raptor presentations I've been to (both at Hawk Mountain), this one was much more of a retail bird *show*, rather than just a nature talk. Jonathan was not shy about setting up good photo ops and making everything up close & personal for the audience.

And the "personal" side didn't end there. Jonathan seems to bring equal parts naturalist, comedian, preacher, and political activist. Not your average science show & tell. In any case, he's very enthusiastic and has some amazing birds.

The Raptor Project is sponsored by Nikon, so when Jonathan saw my Canon camera, he came over and said "Here, let me show you something," and he led the Harris Hawk to fly right up to me, glide past my shoulder, and land behind me. I wasn't quite ready, so the bird flew right by before I had the shot set up.

"What's the matter, didn't get the shot? If you had a Nikon, you would have had the picture. OK, I'll give you and your Canon a second try."

Then he sent the bird up & back again, and this time I got it.

Many, many thanks to Jennifer, who told me about this event. I had a lot of fun, and got tons and tons of pictures at this 2-hour event. It was also a good learning experience with our new camera, trying to catch glimpses of fast-moving birds in low light indoors at night.

My favorite photo from that whole night was a shot of a white Gyrfalcon from Iceland, with a bald eagle in the background.

Now for next time, I just have to catch this same show outdoors, in daylight. :)