In August this impressive and noble looking Wedge-tailed eagle was spotted roadside feasting on roadkill. When it had decided it was "over" being photographed (and covered in the dust from our car) it took off towards a better perch.
Nothing unusual there.
Wedge-tailed eagles are notoriously laboured in their take-off and when this bird sort of mucked up its landing I still didn't think much of it. We are very close and still in the car which means the following photos are totally out of focus and poorly captured.
However I invite the viewer to click for the enlargements and follow the slide show to see what I later discovered on the shots. The Kimberly dust adds an apocalyptic gloom.
The bird's next port of call was a nearby anthill. I am assuming that what we see here is fishing line (I also initially wondered if it may have been a tracking device).
At the time the bird's flight really did not seem impeded and I came away thinking that I had been viewing a healthy bird. This was the dry season in a remote part of Australia. My guess is that monitoring a wild bird's health in this situation would be an improbable possibility and I can only hope that this bird is doing OK.
For injured or orphaned wildlife that is able to be transported I have tonight come across a website for a Kununurra based service Kimberley Wildlife Rescue.
I was reminded of a pelican I photographed at Forster NSW.
All are valuable records, Pete, but it is always shocking for me to see any bird with such entanglements. I think all eventually perish before their time.
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