Conversation with a Crow

[John Hackney]

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A little conversation after the Crow tweaked the Bald Eagle's tail. I was hoping for some action like this and missed the tweak after several minutes on guard. The other antagonists were another Crow and a Magpie but they left as the Eagle stayed its ground. This Crow made the last attempt. The drama ended with this action.

This occurred at a man made lake that formed after a major flood event and filled an old gravel pit. It has been developed into a neighborhood and the roof belongs to a 3 story shopping center and the peak is the highest point of the building. Without the flodd and development I doubt this would have been available to see.

Canon 7D MK II, Canon EF 100-400 MK II, Canon EF 1.4X TC MK III, 1/2500, f/8, ISO 1250 on first and ISO 1600 on the other two.

[Alison McCoy]

Wow John! Amazing captures close up of these subjects. Love the interaction you caught between the two. It is nice to see the size difference so clearly with them so close together.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello John!!!

I knew there was more to your amazing avian interaction, very excited and so pleasantly surprised you shared this sequence with us!

I am at work now and just had a quick sneak peak, will get back to you tonight when I get home:)

Thank you so much, this is awesome, I am sure the other members will appreciate it too:5

Kind regards,

[John Hackney]

Thank you Alison and Gabriela.

This is a great forum to show those sequences that tell a story.

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi John

Great interaction captured!
One can see the agitation of the Eagle, he is really annoyed with the crow!
Well captured!

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello again John:wave:

Myself and Andre really enjoyed your action sequence!

We once witnessed a similar event between a raven and a bird of prey in the Kalahari. The raven was very annoying and at first we thought it was protecting its territory. The "raven attack" went on for some time and I remember taking some images, not sure I kept them as the action was happening quite far away:)

I think you did so well in capturing those images, always exciting to witness interaction between species and to learn more about their behaviour. I like the continuity here and you have managed to convey motion (or rather, commotion!) with three static images- very well done:5, thank you so much for sharing!

Kind regards,

[John Hackney]

Thank you Andre and Gabriela.

I find that I enjoy the interaction between species the most, so much so that I sometimes forget I have my camera with me.

[Gabriela Plesea]

That just shows how much you enjoy Nature, John!

Steve Kaluski said to me on a number of occassions: " ...sometimes just good to set the gear aside, observe and enjoy...". I am often too greedy to do that, but I will never forget his advice. I feel I don't go "out there" enough, work from Monday to Saturday and take two breaks a year, two weeks at a time. I am dreaming of retirement, trying to keep well and stay fit so I can fully enjoy the day I will wake up and wonder: " where shall I go today?" We are surrounded by nature and wildlife is in abundance here, just not enough time to enjoy all that surrounds us, but we try...

Thank you once again for sharing your images here, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it:)

Kind regards,

[Gabriela Plesea]

...forgot to mention it, I really like the title you have chosen:w3