I don’t have many two falcon days but yesterday was one of them. Throw in all the aggressive action and I couldn’t ask for much more.
I consider myself lucky if I get one chance at quality photos of a Merlin about every two years and yesterday this female Merlin became my biennial prize.. Originally she was on a different perch but when she landed here she was calm and approachable. I think the cold morning had something to do with her stickiness.
I photographed her on this perch for over eleven minutes but she gave me very little pose variation. I think she was just trying to warm up in the morning sun.
She was completely unflappable (pun intended), even when a Black-billed Magpie buzzed her aggressively and…
repeatedly. She seemed so unconcerned she acted like it was nearly too much trouble to even turn her head to watch the persistent magpie flying at her.
The last time the magpie buzzed her she finally reacted. Here she’d turned on her perch to face the magpie as it was doing something on or near the sloping hill below her. I kept my lens trained on the Merlin and my eye plastered to the viewfinder so I don’t know what the magpie was actually doing down there.
She may not have cared much about that pesky magpie but another bird incoming from her right got a completely different reaction.
In contrast to the magpie she took this potential threat very seriously.
The aggressor turned out to be an angry female American Kestrel who took serious exception to her presence on the perch. The kestrel is probably a resident bird and the Merlin is migrating through so I suspect this hunting perch ‘belonged’ to the kestrel.
The Merlin fell backwards when she took both feet off the perch in order to present her talons defensively to the incoming kestrel.
I love this photo even though I clipped one of the kestrel’s wings and we can’t see her eye.
The Merlin fell completely off her perch and flew off.
Then the kestrel claimed the perch from which she’d successfully displaced the larger falcon.
I was lucky on this series to have already removed my teleconverter before all the action began. I’d removed it in anticipation of takeoff and flight shots but having the shorter focal length served the same purpose when all this aggressive behavior began. If my teleconverter had still been attached to my camera I almost certainly wouldn’t have been able to keep as much of both birds in the frame as I did. And I’d have had significantly less depth of field to get both birds as sharp as possible.
Serendipity strikes again.
Ron
WOW! This was incredible! Well not really. I do find you credible. 😀 How about really freaking awesome? 😀
“And I’d have had significantly less depth of field to get both birds as sharp as possible.”
By itself, adding a teleconverter should not change the depth of field. But I think I understand why you are in fact seeing a change in the depth of field: It appears that you are keeping the focal ratio the same, with and without the tc. Thus the physical aperture (the diameter of the iris in mm) is 40% larger when you use the 1.4x tc. The depth of field (in mm at the location of the subject, say) is approximately proportional to the reciprocal of the angular diameter of the aperture, as seen by the subject. So if I’m not mistaken it’s the use of a larger physical aperture that results in the smaller depth of field. I had previously noticed that you report the same focal ratio, with and without the tc (though not in this post), and had I wondered why. This interpretation also explains Jorge Oliveira’s question in your “A Digestive Surprise For A Young Swainson’s Hawk” post, where he asked why the exposure parameters were the same both with and without the tc. You didn’t lose one stop when adding the tc because you increased the diameter of the aperture; you got twice as much light through the aperture and it was spread over twice the area on the sensor, so there would be no change in exposure parameters.
Never ever underestimate the power of the small guy or gal. Chickadees will win! Amazing shots of these encounters!
Incredible behavioral series Ron! thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Charlotte.
Jackpot shots Ron 😀
Thanks, Diana.
Congrats on your twofer. Especially considering the interactions. Had no idea the American Kestrel is the badass of the falcon world. That looks like an IPS (important perching spot ). Might bear repeated visits. Hope you committed the location to memory.
Don’t worry Lyle, I’m fully aware of where that perch is and have been for a long time. Thanks for the congrats.
Holy cow, Ron! What a marvelous falcon morning you had! Action packed!
I imagined the Magpie just out of frame to the right in #4, so the Merlin’s pose said something else to me, entirely. 😂
One of my best falcon mornings ever Marty, if you consider the number of species in such a short time. Thank you.
Ron, what a truly spectacular series of photos! They are stunning and such an intimate view of falcon personalities. This made my day. We also have lost our kestrels around our home but have a Merlin that likes to harass the birds at our feeders. Kestrels in California are declining and are a species of concern, maybe due to the fact that they eat insects and birds that eat insects and are susceptible to insecticides. We are going to be putting up Kestrel boxes in our Willits Little Lake valley to encourage them.Thanks again for these and your informative narrative.
Thanks, Marisela. Kestrel boxes are an important part of the effort to help kestrels. Being cavity nesters their natural nesting places are limited.
Serendipity indeed. Someone I am much happier to welcome into my life than her cousins Luck and Karma.
What amazing things to see – let alone photograph.
Ol’ Karma can be a bitch can’t she EC. But the good thing about her is that when she gets things right she only visits those who deserve it. I wish she’d visit more of those kinds of folks more often, especially politicians in Washington DC.
Spectacular! An amazing encounter to see and to have the opportunity to document it is even better. Many, many years ago while on a camping trip with my Ornithology class, we witnessed an amazing falcon display, but of course, no camera to record it. Halfway across an open prairie along a mountain lake shore, there was a female Harrier sitting atop a small stump. Suddenly, an adult Peregrine dropped out of the sky and swooped at the Harrier. It made several passes and the Harrier flinched each time but didn’t leave. On about the 4th attack, a male American Kestrel appeared on the scene and made a beeline for the attacking Peregrine. Eventually, the Peregrine left but the Kestrel still kept attacking it until it went into the open woods on the far shore. Once the Peregrine was perched, the Kestrel left it and returned to dive on the Harrier. It too soon left. What Kestrels may lack in size, they certainly makeup for in aggression. Great shots of the Merlin. They are still one of the species I’ve yet to get a photo of.
Thanks, Dan. What you describe would have been a blast to witness, photos or not.
WOW!
Two great fight series in a week. What riches! Kestrels, particularly females, are the attack dogs of the air world. I watched a female ride a crow out of a field in which the falcon’s young were fledging. Gripped the crow’s back and ripped at its neck with her beak.
Sallie, I’ve seen ‘piggy-back’ action like that a time or two but I’ve never been able to photograph it well. Some day…
These are a wonderfully photographed series. How lucky to be at the right place and right time!
I have wondered if the prevalence of more melins in areas like my own neighborhood is due to the lack of kestrels? We use to have many kestrels with the gully behind us. Now none. I have been seeing merlins instead for the last 5 years.
Interesting, April. I’ve noticed the decline of kestrels too but can’t say I’ve noticed any increase in Merlin numbers. Not yet anyway.
Wow, thanks, Ron! Never get enough falcons!
Nor do I, Ellen.
Amazing shots, Ron. Mirroring the current political climate?
Probably in some ways, Jamila. However in this encounter I don’t think there are any villains. Wish I could say the same for the other..,.
Good point!
Exciting action! Only this past week I had a male American Kestrel attack a Merlin which was roosting in its winter foraging territory. The kestrel followed it and they circled a few times with the kestrel vocalizing in a high pitch, until the merlin flew off. I have seen this happen several times before and have been amazed that the burly Merlin can be so intimidated. Certainly the urge to protect territory is stronger than the desire for a sunbath. Interestingly, the Merlin had earlier ignored a Blue Jay’s attempt to attack or harass it, though it too kept its eye on the jay. I already had put my documentation of the jay attack in next week’s blog.
“Certainly the urge to protect territory is stronger than the desire for a sunbath”
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with that Kenneth. All things being equal I’m pretty sure the Merlin could whip the kestrel any day of the week.
Again, WOW!! Serendipity is a wondrous thing. But it ONLY works if you’re there to witness it with the wherewithal to record it. And that’s YOUR part of the equation. Serendipitous things happen all the time that go completely unnoticed. And yes a tree falling in a forest makes noise whether there’s a human to hear it, or not 😉
It’s very interesting that the Merlin couldn’t have cared less about the magpie, but no surprise whatsoever that she reacted to the female Kestrel. From personal experience, I can tell you that the Kestrel’s diminutive size thing is merely an optical illusion. They’re REALLY bigger and more formidable than two or three golden eagles mashed together!!
Anyway, makes me wonder if her reaction had been the same if it had been a crow?
I have a treasured pair of photos (taken by a REAL photographer) of a similar encounter between Mariah (who was perched on a telephone pole) and a wild redtail coming in hot and low. Like the Merlin, Mariah raised up to present her talons to the incoming redtail, turning completely upside down. However, when the wild redtail sailed just over those lethal talons without responding in kind with discretion being the better part of valor, Mariah regained her perch. Of course, she had those lovely wings as backup so that gravity didn’t pertain to her.
I want wings 😉
“I can tell you that the Kestrel’s diminutive size thing is merely an optical illusion”
So very true, Laura. To paraphrase EC kestrels fight above their weight.
Cool shots! The merlin’s mouth is open – was there a lot of screeching during this encounter?
Sarah, I don’t remember hearing any sound from either one of them. But in all the excitement it many not have registered.
I just love seeing the Kestral and the Merlin together. Remarkable.
Thanks, Dan.
WOW! 😀 Obviously the pesky magpie didn’t appear to be a threat – on the other hand the Kestrel was! Amazing the reflexes to let go of the perch to ready for battle even if it meant falling! Great capture, Ron.
Judy, considering the size difference between a kestrel and a magpie I’m surprised the Merlin didn’t have more of a reaction.
What a fantastic series! Glad these two didn’t lock talons the way your redtails did the other day …
Thank you, Cathy.
Part of what seems so spectacular is that only with birds can you get a charged encounter with a full view looking upward. No ground to impede the drama. And falling backwards into air with a dramatic counter surge of wings is gripping. Thanks!
“falling backwards into air with a dramatic counter surge of wings is gripping”
Alison, that’s a big part of the reason I like that photo so much. Thank you.
Serendipity and Murphy were with you 100% on this. What a remarkable and beautiful series and two of my favorite birds. I work with our local Kestrel restoration folks here and love these little guys. But I also have a fondness for our Merlins as well. And like you I usually only see a Merlin once a year at best. I think you are right about the Merlin being in transit and just wanting to sit there and warm up.
This might be my all-time favorite Dudley series even surpassing the Red-tailed Hawks. Hope you have a good weekend.
Thank you, Everett. I’ve been extremely lucky recently to have so many opportunities to photograph fighting raptors.