Exceptionally Good Vision

I am finishing up my birds of prey images.  So many great portraits,  it seemed a shame to have them by themselves when I could bring them all together for a nice fond memory of the day.   All for ambasadors from the
Black Land Prairie Raptor Center

This image is a montage of the 4 birds layered on top of a texture from Bob Ross.  His texture was then used again over the final composition to create the soft blending and light.  

The Messenger ~ Common Barn Owl

‘Willie’ -  Common Barn Owl

Willie was found on the ground in the spring of 2002 in Dallas.  The person who found her thought she needed help and took her home to raise her.  Unfortunately, she was fed cat food as she developed which caused a lack of calcium in her diet, her bones became brittle and fractures occurred in her right wing. This made her only partially flighted.  Additionally, she became ‘imprinted’ on humans and now relies on them for her care.

She was an ambassador on Super Saturday at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge and posed for some incredible photography shots. 

Red Shouldered Hawk

 ‘Pippin’ - Red-shouldered Hawk

The story of Pippin is unfortunately a common one.  In 2003, he was found flying around a neighborhood acting abnormal for a wild hawk.  When approached, he actually landed on the roof of a car begging for food.  He is an  ‘imprint’ which somebody raised and released thinking they had saved the bird’s life.  But Pippin was found almost starved to death, not knowing how to hunt.  Fortunately, he has become a wonderful education ambassador with Blackland Prairie Raptor Center in Texas.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge has several of their ambassador raptors at Super Saturday last summer and i was so happy to get many wonderful photos of Pippin!

Dallas Ft Worth area is home to the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center - Raptor Project