Wedge-tailed eagle graces the camera lens
Habana resident Angus Mecoles fulfils his mission to photograph the Australian predatory bird
Mackay
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HABANA resident Angus Mecoles spent four hours scaling Cape Hillsborough looking for the Australian wedge-tailed eagle.
His efforts were fruitless but the drive back did not disappoint.
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"It wasn't until I came back, driving (past Mt Blackwood) that he was there eating a bandicoot on the road," Mr Mecoles said.
He seized the opportunity and photographed the magnificent bird from underneath the tree it was perched in.
"They're the size of a staffy … they're incredible," he said.
Mr Mecoles estimates the wingspan on this particular eagle was five to six feet but they can reach up to seven and a half feet (2.5m) wide.
Cape Hillsborough was an ecologically diverse place to spot birds, he said, including the white-bellied sea eagle and tropical species like the fruit dove.
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Mr Mecoles said the eagle had been second on his list of birds to photograph after capturing a shot of a wild southern cassowary in the Daintree rainforest last year.
But the photographer's 'holy grail' is an eastern quoll, which are believed to be extinct.
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