gaggling with migratory birds

Beyond the common sense of flying around big birds, here are a few
tips on flying with raptors:

1) Approach raptors from below or beside. It is a perceived threat to
sneak up on them from behind (they have forward binocular vision) or
from above (where a rival raptor or eagle would initiate an attack
from).
2) If you avoid scaring or ****ing off the raptor, you may find
yourself with a flying partner for a few minutes, and it can be a
rewarding experience. I've "team flown" with a red tail in formation
once after properly getting acquainted with it.
3) Be careful with California Condors- they can be clumsy birds when
young. Don't approach closer than you would a low-time glider pilot.
4) Large undulating swoops by golden eagles are a territorial display.
If you see this, give the eagle some room. I saw one pounce on the
horizontal stab of a glider in Montana once that failed to heed its
display.

Sounds like some biologists have been overzealous or uninformed, but
that doesn't mean that glider pilots have been completely clean here.
If you give springtime nests an appropriate berth and make sure you
aren't harassing them, at least you will have done your due
diligence.

Chad
PS. the overwhelming majority of raptor conservation is accomplished
through volunteers, non-profit organizations, zoos, and foundation
grants, not taxpayer dollars.

On 9 touko, 08:52, 4Z wrote:
Beyond the common sense of flying around big birds, here are a few
tips on flying with raptors:

I would like to offer a tip to all of you. There was an accident last
autumn in Spain where DuoDiscus was flying close to a griffon vulture.
It collided with a tip of the elevator, instantly ripping the whole
elevator and half of the vertical tail surfaces off. Both pilots
jumped, but as they where flying over hill top the altitude was too
low for opening parachutes. So, my tip is: keep some distance, bird
collision can kill you. Go to zoo if you want to spot birds close by.