Captive Raptors

While going to a Nature Preserve here in the Atlanta area which holds a lot of Raptors, in the beginning i tried very hard to shoot through the fences to make them look as "wild" as possible.
I soon discovered that this is not necessary and sometimes no possible. They are what they are. Captive birds. So from then I though I shoot them in their environment. Captive. With bars.

Since unfortunately some cages had such a fine mesh and some birds where so hidden away - it was close to impossible to get a good shot of them. Even though, here are a few that turned out alright.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Redtail Hawk"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Turkey Vulture (I think female)"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Turkey Vulture (I think male)"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="333" caption="Bald Eagle"][/caption]

I have to say that the Bald Eagle above is my favorite as a bird - I think I never gotten as close to one before; primarily I have only seen them in Florida. Their eyes are truly piercing. This fella had a young one in there as well but it did not want to show itself.