So the other day I'm driving along this dirt track in Kinchega National Park real slow right? Two reasons. First there are wattle bushes all along the sides and they're faded like someone pressed mute on the yellow. So I'm wondering whether they come out all bright sunshine and fade from the damn heat out here. Second reason I'm on the go slow is there's plenty of roos and I'm worried one will dart out of those bushes and surprise me with a thud.
So there I am, a bit wary and a bit fascinated, when I sense something move up out of the wattle to my right. I say sense, not see, because it was the presence that I noticed, a shift in the atmosphere. I turn and next to me is a huge wedge tailed eagle.
It doesn't flap about like the crows or cockatoos, this thing moves like it understands its own grandeur. And it takes a good long look at me with those copper flecked eyes. Its feathers made from gold and rich dark chocolate. It glides like that right next to me, and I am captivated by its power. I'm telling you, no word of a lie, the wing span was at least a couple of metres. And sure, that has power just in sheer magnitude but this thing also carried itself with fortitude.
So it can't be longer than five seconds we're like this, eyeballing each other, then it hunches its shoulders twice, slow and controlled. I watch the air move around the force of those lifting and falling wings as it flies away. The thing about it was the silence, how very still everything was in that moment. That five seconds is something I will never forget. To know what it is to be hunted by an eagle.
This image was taken at Pamamaroo Lake. A free camp in Menindee NSW, Australia.
Kinchega National Park is across the road. They are chalk and cheese. Pamamaroo's sandy lake shores and crystal clear water a stark contrast to the red dirt, roos and arid outback landscape of Kinchenga. Both beauties.
All words and pictures are my own. Some of my content may have been previously published in one of more of the following locations:
Steepshot |