This is pretty cool: a camera trap in Primorye, set to observe Amur (“Siberian”) tigers, caught a golden eagle in the act of killing a sika deer. Knowing of my interest, Jonathan, Tim Gallagher, and Annie Hocker all sent notice. But I am grumpy about the text, especially two statements, “”rabbits—their regular prey—” Not really; …
Tag: golden eagles
Red Kite?
I can’t prove the bird morphed into an “eagle” in the hoax video below was a red kite (Milvus milvus) but I have seen a few in the wild and I think it was. A beautiful bird with remarkable buoyancy and power of flight, a common medieval street scavenger, a most challenging quarry hunted through …
Lauren checks in…
Adventuring on; she will be going out to Kazakhstan to learn serious Kazakh soon, then to several other Stans. The Explorers Club has provided some funds but I may just have to run a bleg here… (Need I say more about my friend, protegee who long since surpassed her elder, first female berkutchi, first American …
Sad Week
I just got word from Alan Gates that Aralbai has died at just 54.(Photo by Cat)He might have been “The Coolest Man in the World” and was a serious drinking companion, but many people from many countries from here to England to Japan (I may tell that tale later) appreciated him as a guide and …
Kazakh portraits
I’ve been doing some experimenting with black-and-white, and thought I’d share a few images of the Kazakh men who hunt with golden eagles that I met while I was in western Mongolia in 2008.
Sad News
Alan Gates writes: “I have sad news that Aralbai has been diagnosed with throat cancer, he refused the laser treatment he was offered at the UB hospital because he believed that those that had had this type of treatment, die quicker. “He has deteriorated a lot from the time I last hunted with him, and …
Some Replies–Eagles for Jim, “UFO Area” for Chas…
Below, Jim Cornelius wrote: “Caught an episode of Human Planet on Saturday, featuring a 16-year-old Kazakh making his first hunt with an eagle he had captured and trained. They had a camera mounted on the eagle. OH, MAN! I want to see an entire movie on this type of hunting in IMAX.” Actually, a wonderful …
Possible answer to post below?
Lauren at 17 in Olgii with AralbaiAt 25 on her Fulbright:With Aralbai, classic Kazakh cowboy, and his new eagle just before her return.Sooner or later we will get Peculiar to get some of his “Mongolia expedition staff at 17” photos too…
Mongolian Art
Just for fun– the cover of a small Mongolian pb treatise on Eagle Hunting (in Mongolian– can’t read a word of it) that I found as I dug deeper into the library.. Sure, it is sort of Soviet- influenced I suppose, but its bold vivid block print style is still striking.
Raptor conflict
Driving down a western Wyoming highway yesterday, Jim and I noticed four hawks (of two different species) that were tag-team harassing an immature golden eagle. I didn’t have a big lens, but did manage to capture a few images of the conflict. This is a Swainson’s hawk harassing the golden eagle.