You have a fair point there Mypix.
Sorry Matty for not giving you a fair critique.
The first image is a good portrait shot of what looks like a Hybrid Hawk, great use of DoF.
Not trying to sound negative, I would have tried not to have a split horizon in the shot, All ground/trees or all sky.
If you crop to just the birds head it would make a more pleasing shot.
The second image shows that the bird could be isolated from the spectators.
Again like the first image a good portrait shot.
If you get the chance again Matty, ask the Falconer if you can get some shots of the bird on the ground.
You'll have to get down on your belly yourself, but the shot will be worth it. You should be able to hide the jesses in the grass making the bird look like its not captive.
I'd just like to touch on a point you've made MyPix.
The equipment shouldn't be a factor when it comes to taking the image.
If you use your imagination and think about what you are trying to achieve before you press the shutter, you'll find you come away with a more pleasing image.
I can give a good example of this, with one of our own admin team.
He used a Canon G3 and myself a Fuji S2. He constantly got better images than me on our days out, and all of this was because he learnt how to use the camera and thought about what he was going to do, I just pointed and shot.
I now find myself holding back rather than just getting a record shot, this also reduces the need to spend loads of time behind the monitor to fix complicated backgrounds.