Great shots, but stay on the ground when taking pictures of eagles as this lady would tell you;
2/2/2007 1:10:33 AM ( Source: Reuters)
Paraglider attacked by wild eagles
By Rob Taylor
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Britain's top female paraglider has cheated death after being attacked by a pair of "screeching" wild eagles while competition flying in Australia.
Nicky Moss, 38, watched terrified as two huge birds began tearing into her parachute canopy, one becoming tangled in her lines and clawing at her head 2,500 metres in the air.
"I heard screeching behind me and a eagle flew down and attacked me, swooping down and bouncing into the side of my wing with its claws," Moss told Reuters on Friday.
"Then another one appeared and together they launched a sustained attack on my glider, tearing at the wing.
One of the giant wedge-tailed eagles became wrapped in the canopy lines and slid down towards Moss, lashing at her face with its talons as her paraglider plummeted towards the ground.
"It swooped in and hit me on the back of the head, then got tangled in the glider which collapsed it. So I had a very, very large bird wrapped up screeching beside me as I screamed back," Moss said.
She said she thought about dumping her parachute-style canopy and using the reserve.
"But then I would have been descending on my reserve as the birds continued shredding it, which I wasn't happy about," she said.
The encounter happened on Monday while Moss -- a member of the British paragliding team -- was preparing for world titles this month at Manilla in northern New South Wales state.
"Eagles are the sharks of the air. But if you're a regular they just treat you pretty indifferently," he said.
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