#Wedgetail Eagle

[redrcs]

Out in the back blocks. Eagles, roadkill and heat haze. Somewhere near Bourketown.

[southernimages]

Khaiserstuhl CP, Wildlife in Wine Country

Dear Reader: The predatory bird circles high in the morning sky then swoops down low to within a hundred metres of me. A Wedge-tailed Eagle, Australia’s largest bird of prey. Wedge-tailed Eagle hunting I am heading for the Kaiserstuhl Conservation Park, a twenty minute drive from Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley and around 90 kms from Adelaide. Kaiser Stuhl was a popular winery, now incorporated…

[thebirdsofaus]

The first bird in the book (once past the index, an alphabetical list of "subscribers", the division of all birds into genus and location and the inclusion of a surprising number of anecdotal letters about birds from subscribers), is the Wedge-tailed Eagle.

"This noble bird is so universally spread over the southern portion of Australia, that it is quite unnecessary for me to enter more minutely into detail respecting the extent of its range, than to say that it is equally distributed over the whole of the country from Swan River on the west to Moreton Bay on the east; it is also as numerous in Van Diemen’s Land, and on all the larger islands in Bass’s Straits..." "In all probability it will hereafter be found to extend its range as far towards the tropics in the southern hemisphere as the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaëta) does in the northern: the two birds are, in fact, beautiful analogues of each other in their respective habitats, and doubtless perform similar offices..."

" its tremendous stoop and powerful grasp, in fact, carry inevitable destruction to its victim, be it ever so large and formidable. The breeders of sheep find in this bird an enemy which commits extensive ravages among their lambs, and consequently in its turn it is persecuted unrelentingly by the shepherds of the stock-owners, who employ every artifice in their power to effect its extirpation... The tracts of untrodden ground and the vastness of the impenetrable forests will, however, for a long series of years to come afford it an asylum, secure from the inroads of the destroying hand of man; still with every one waging war upon it, its numbers must necessarily be considerably diminished."

"The adults have the head, throat, and all the upper and under surface blackish brown, stained on the edges and extremities of many of the feathers, particularly the wing and upper tail-coverts with pale brown; back and sides of the neck rusty-red; irides hazel; cere and space round the eye yellowish white; bill yellowish horn-colour, passing into black at the tip; feet light yellow.

"The young have the head and back of the neck deep fawn-colour, striated with lighter; all the feathers of the upper surface largely tipped and stained with fawn and rusty-red; tail indistinctly barred near the extremity; throat and breast blackish brown, each feather largely tipped with rufous; the abdomen blackish brown."

[natpashdesign]

Sky studies.

[tyers]

[kiunlo]

Willie Wagtail! Or a Blue Fairy Wren (with his Ladies)! Or a Purple Crowned Fairy Wren (they largely survived last year's floods and are MATING)! Or Galahs! Or Magpies! Or a Wedgetail Eagle!

I like birds 🐦🦩🦤🦆🐣

sorry this took forever to actually get to your ask lol. i was initially going to draw all of the birds (because i love all those birds and i wanted to draw them all) but if i did that it would've taken too long (cries). the wings are whatever. everything else i'm proud of.

drawn on my phone w/ stylus, started it yesterday, finished it today.

[soup-mother]

do u have a favorite Australian bird. I am a huge fan of the cassowary personally. saw one once and it was the most bizarrely beautiful creature I’ve encountered

i love Yolla/Shearwaters and sea eagles, but i also love musk lorikeets, wedgetailed eagles and tawny frogmouths :)

i saw a cassewary once at a zoo it was sorta just chilling menacingly

[penelobunny]

Wedgetail Eagle Australia

[goannafr]

wedgetailed eagle so cool so epic american bald guys got nothing on it

[usafphantom2]

BAE Systems receives extension of the support contract for the Australian E-7A Wedgetail

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 21/07/2023 - 14:00 in Military

BAE Systems Australia will provide Electronic Warfare Systems for the Australian Air Force's E-7A Wedgetail aircraft fleet until 2028, after winning a two-year contract extension.

Under the two-year contract, BAE Systems will support the Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and Electronic Warfare Self-Protection (EWSP) systems for Boeing Defense Australia under Wedgetail's Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) program.

Wedgetail is a critical component of the Australian Defense Force (ADF)'s ability to carry out joint air, land and sea missions in real time.

BAE Systems has been providing lift support to the Wedgetail fleet since its entry into service in 2011 and has played a key role in ensuring aircraft availability and readiness for mission.

BAE Systems will provide engineering, field services, supply, maintenance and management support for the ESM and EWSP systems in the RAAF fleet of six E-7A Wedgetail aircraft at the Edinburgh RAAF Base from the company's Edinburgh Parks facilities.

The achievement of the contract is based on BAE Systems Australia's long-standing relationship with RAAF, which extends to manufacturing, maintenance and support work under the Hawk Lead-In Fighter and F-35 programs.

BAE Systems Australia's defense delivery managing director, Andrew Gresham, said: “For more than 50 years, our company has collaborated with ADF to provide world-class electronic warfare systems and this achievement reinforces our position as a leader in this field. Our dedicated team has a deep knowledge of the Wedgetail platform and we are committed to ensuring that it remains ready for the mission at all times. We look forward to working closely with Boeing and RAAF to continue offering this essential capability."

Tags: Military AviationBAE SystemsBoeing E-7 WedgetailRAAF - Royal Australian Air Force/Australian Royal Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Daytona Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work around the world of aviation.

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[charlesandmartine]

Thursday 2nd March 2023

A very early start today 7.30 to go see the dinosaur stampede site. I'm assured that the dinosaurs were there before us, or a least the little man with the mock dinosaur cutout footprint. The flies were definitely up before us and were pleased to see us when we made our appearance. The congenial driver plus off-road minibus arrived promptly at 7.30 so we were ready to go. The first thing of note was that we the only ones on this 12 seater and tour. Suited us. Our driver was extremely informative and interesting, pointing out Coolabah trees and how these dominate the tree market around creeks. No doubt we shall learn more about these trees tomorrow at the Walzing Matilda Museum. Headcount for Kangaroos for the day was one. Headcount for Wedgetail Eagle, one. Lark's Quarry was 110km away and we were glad to be transported there over many unsealed roads, some of which were being levelled and having any ruts removed. Mr Avis would not approve. We passed sections of road designated as flying doctor landing strips. A reminder of just how remote we are here in the outback. The term woop woop is used to describe somewhere in the middle of nowhere. After about 1.5hrs we arrived at the Dinosaur Stampede Site and after a coffee and a lamington we got stuck in.

Dinosaur trackways were first discovered in the 1960's by Glenn Seymour but were thought at first to have been made by birds. Glenn showed them to a local enthusiast Peter Knowles and were determined to be evidence of the world's only dinosaur stampede. It wasn't until 1971 that serious scientists who were mainly interested in cretaceous mammals were to get involved. Now in all of this as you know the cretaceous period means Australia by then was surrounded by water and so anything that lives and breathes thereon is likely to be different from any animal found in the rest of the world. As it is the case with our species of dinosaur that made these prints held captive in ironstone. It is thought this is how the prints came to be where they were discovered so many millions of years later. On the day our drama unfolds, some 95 million years ago, herds of small two-legged dinosaurs came to drink at the lake. There were at least 150 dinosaurs of two different kinds - carnivorous Coelurosaurs about the size of Chickens, and slightly larger plant-eating Ornithopods, some of them as large as Emus.

A huge meat-eating Theropod, smaller than a Tyrannosaurus, approached the lake. It slowed, saw the other dinosaurs gathered at the water’s edge and began to stalk, then turned and charged. The stampeding herd of smaller dinosaurs left a chaotic mass of footprints in the mud as they ran to escape. Gradually some 3000 footprints were painstakingly uncovered in all and a rudimental structure for protecting them was built around them. Although the importance of this discovery was made at the start of the 1970s, it wasn't until 1979 that the news was made available to a wider excited world of paleontologists. Yes, apparently paleontologists can get excited. Scientists were increasingly worried about the prints deteriorating but it wasn't until 2002 the the permanent structure we saw today was erected by Australian Age of Dinosaurs run by David and Judy Elliott, Chairman.

Our route back to Winton took us by a cattle station lookout which gave stunning views across many miles of the outback. We saw recently made tracks of Goanna and Emu but sadly not the perpetrators.

Winton was able to yield some of its own fruits in the form of curried chicken pie before making our way back to the North Gregory. This is a funny old art deco style errection built to replace its burnt down predecessor which was built to replace its predecessor which strangely enough was also built to replace its burnt down predecessor. I think I got that right. It's kind of easy to get carried away on fires in this country. The large store next door, Corfields, burnt down in 1916. As a hotel although somewhat rudimentary and in dire need of burning down again is comfortable and the room's Aircon rumbled away all night maintaining a tolerable temperature to sleep in.

Tonight, just to ring the changes, we went for a meal where we went last night, Tattersalls Hotel or as they say around these parts Tatts. Martine managed a vegetarian stir-fry and xxxx beer and I managed a lamb shank unforgivably with chips and a great northern beer. Martine extremely tired because she found the local swimming pool and clocked up 30 long lengths.

It's been a fantastic day today. We have been awe inspired with the stampede and extremely fortunate that we had such a personalised tour with the whole place to ourselves and unfettered access to the tour specialist. It's hard to imagine the animal that left its footprint 95 million years ago right there where you are standing. Totally fascinating.

Tomorrow when our billy has boiled we are off down the road to the Waltzing Matilda Museum. We sure know how live.

[redrcs]

Stunt plane

Illawarra airshow

[southernimages]

Gorge Wildlife Park

Dear Reader: Capturing images in the wild is one of the most exhilarating challenges a photographer faces. Each image evokes poignant memories of the location and circumstances under which it was shot. However, there is also a place for pictures taken in zoos and wildlife parks. Wedge-tailed Eagle At the Gorge Wildlife Park, one can get close enough to discern the fine details of animal…

[warningsine]

Woolnorth Renewables, an Australian company with wind farms in the island state of Tasmania, is turning to artificial intelligence (AI)- powered technology to save wedgetail eagles, native to the region. The company will install 30 IdentiFlight units on its 168 megawatt (MW) wind farm, Renew Economy reported.

As countries work to move away from fossil fuels, there is a push to install renewable energy solutions such as wind and solar on a large scale. The unprecedented number of installations has also brought issues not encountered before this to the fore.

As wind turbines get larger and sweep areas covering multiple soccer fields in one go, there is also a risk of hitting flying birds, which often results in their death. According to the MIT Climate Portal, up to 679,000 birds are killed yearly by turbine collisions in the US alone. The numbers are sourced from studies conducted a decade ago and have surely increased with the larger number of wind turbine installations.

Yet, the numbers are still a fraction of the estimated number of bird deaths caused by power transmission lines (up to 64 million) or prowling house cats (four billion), the website added.

Threat to wind farms

While large-scale installations of wind turbines are a serious threat to birds’ lives, the death of a bird due to a turbine hit has also become a threat to the wind farm itself. Earlier this week, the Nimes Court of Appeal in France ordered a wind farm to be demolished and its land be restored to its original state after it was found responsible for the death of over 1,000 birds, including one golden eagle.

Last year, a wind farm in the US was fined $8 million over eagle deaths, while an upcoming 900 MW wind farm in Tasmania, Australia, was staring at a five-month ban every year, even before it could begin operations.

In such a scenario, a system that can monitor the presence of birds near a wind farm and instruct the turbine to stop spinning is very useful.

AI to the rescue

Woolnorth Renewables’ wind farm in Musselroe, Tasmania, put in place a human-observer-based system as early as 2019 to prevent its turbines from striking birds. In the six years of operation before this, the wind farm was allegedly responsible for the death of twelve eagles, classified as vulnerable in the region.

By October 2020, the farm upgraded to a bird radar technology provided by a European company on a trial basis while continuing with its observer-based system. Three years later, the farm reported four more eagle collisions at its site and is now turning to AI-powered technology to reduce the number further.

Called IdentiFlight, the system uses optical sensors and leverages the power of AI to identify eagles and other protected birds flying up to 0.6 miles (one km) away from the turbines. Within seconds, the system then calculates the trajectory of the birds relative to the rotary sweep area (RSA) of the turbine and determines if one or more turbines need to be shut down.

The company also assessed its technology at another wind farm in Tasmania, which had a generation capacity of 148 MW over 18 months between August 2020 and February 2022. It claims a detection accuracy of 99 percent and can help reduce fatalities by 85 percent, in the assessment report.

“Wind farms are critical to our clean energy transition and new technologies like IdentiFlight are crucial to manage and mitigate potential risks,” Giles Rinckes, general manager at Woolnorth, told Renew Economy.

[rubisleaf]

(via "Wedge tailed eagle watercolor" Framed Art Print for Sale by RubisLeaf)

Fun Fact: The Wedge-tailed Eagle, Australia's largest bird of prey, has an impressive wingspan of up to 9 feet!  Soar into the world of these majestic raptors with this awe-inspiring fact! #WedgeTailedEagle #BirdsOfPrey  #Wildlife #AvianAdventures #Raptor #SkyHighEagles #Australia #Nature #Eagle #WedgeTail 

[beeleoblue]

I can see a wedgetail eagle ways above me. Wow