A classic case of biting off more than you can chew.
1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
In July of 2017 while I was negotiating some of the more remote dirt roads of Montana’s Red Rock Lakes NWR I spotted a larger bird repeatedly jumping up out of the tall grasses several hundred yards away. At first I couldn’t tell what it was. I actually thought it might be a Sage Grouse but as I got a little closer and looked at it through my lens I could just barely see enough of it to tell that it was a Prairie Falcon. ‘He’ was still a long way from me and mostly hidden by the vegetation.
And he had large prey.
I’ve posted the photo above before but the next one is new to Feathered Photography.
1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
He kept trying to fly off with the prey, which turned out to be a Richardson’s Ground Squirrel, but it was just too heavy. When he would take off his initial jump would launch him into tentative flight for a moment but he could only fly a few feet before the weight of the large rodent dragged him back down to terra firma. And that happened repeatedly.
He was always so close to the tall grasses and we were both so low to the ground I had a very difficult time getting my focusing point to lock onto him rather than the vegetation. This shot was the best I could do. Eventually, after trying to fly quite a few times, he became so far away from me I left him and drove down the dirt road to look for other birds.
There’s an obvious question: Why was he so intent on flying off with the rodent rather than eating it in place? I believe I know the most likely answer. The large valley has many much larger raptors, including Red-tailed Hawks, Ferruginous Hawks, Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles, that would steal prey from the smaller falcon in a heartbeat if given the opportunity.
So I believe the falcon was trying to carry the squirrel to a more hidden and secure location where he could enjoy his meal in peace.
Ron
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- Baby it’s cold outside. It’s 14° F. at the moment and still dropping in the predawn darkness. Our coldest morning so far this winter. I’m sure glad I had my furnace worked on a few weeks ago and more recently had my gas fireplace insert repaired.
What a terrific sequence!
If you don’t go “out there”, you will be assured of never having an opportunity such as this one.
Happy to hear about your temperatures, since they are occurring somewhere else! My Florida blood is quite happy with our warmth, thank you.
As to the decision of the falcon to go after such large prey, it’s simple. Mama said: “I fell like ground squirrel for dinner.” End of story.
We hope you are all well, Ron. Your blog continues to inspire and motivate me to do better.
“if you don’t go “out there”, you will be assured of never having an opportunity such as this one”
Another version of my old mantra, Wally – “You never know unless you go.”
And thanks for the kind words.
Poor thing — even if he makes it to a more secluded place for his meal, I have a feeling the energy expended between the kill and all those “hopper flights” will negate the calories in the ground squirrel (poor squilla too).
And major BRRRRRR for you guys! Our local mountains have been down in the teens overnight, but not during the day. I remember some teen, single digit, zero and below-zero days from living in central IL (and the wind whipping off the fields). So glad your heating systems are in good repair!
Good point, Marty. He ‘wasted’ a lot of energy trying to get off the ground so many times.
Love this shot. Sometimes “the best I could do” is really worth doing so no complaints here. I too hope the falcon got to enjoy his dinner. 14F (or -10C) is definitely more than enough cold that any sensible person or animal should have to endure so I am crossing my fingers we do not get any -20C (-4F) days here on the east coast like we had last winter. Stay warm.
Granny Pat, it was cold enough here this morning that there were two Barn Owls hunting in daylight when I went out shooting. Not a good thing for the owls….
Yes, at temps like those I am sure all the field mice do hide in their burrows so the owls could easily spend a few hungry days.
Our temperatures are very different. We are on about 15C here (close to 60F) a little after 3 this morning. Which is cool for the time of the year here, but will get hotter. Much hotter. Dammit.
I do hope the the falcon’s ambitious plan didn’t prevent him from taking time to acting eat some of his prey…
I thought I was the only one crazy enough to get up by 3 AM, EC. But then you probably hadn’t gone to bed yet…
Nope. I am an early riser and except for the night I am on call for Lifeline early to bed too.
Then we’re both nuts, EC! This time of year I’m often up 5 hours before sunrise. That’s just crazy.
No arguments. Some days dawn takes forever to arrive…
It looks like he made a wing span versus payload miscalculation. One wonders how he will execute takeoff and flight once the squirrel is in his storage bay.
All of a sudden our 33° seems not so bad.🥶
“It looks like he made a wing span versus payload miscalculation”
I’d say so, Lyle. But it was close so maybe he had to try to know fur sure. He sure tried a lot of times though.
The ‘gopher’ would weigh must as much ingested as it would when it isn’t, although he obviously wouldn’t eat the entire body, bones and all.
That is really a neat shot Ron and you are absolutely right about the larger raptors coming to steal its prey. Just 3 years ago I came along the shore of our Willow Lake and came upon a female Northern Harrier who had killed and was feasting on a Coot. The Harrier was so involved with both eating and hiding its prey that I was able to take about a hundred fairly close up shots. As I was leaving I ran into a man and woman coming toward me. They asked me if I had seen the Harrier and the coot and I said I had. Then they told me that they had witnessed the original killing that was done by a Prairie Falcon and then had seen the Harrier come and take it away from the smaller falcon.
Interesting story, Everett. I’m slightly surprised that a harrier could get the best of a Prairie Falcon because the falcon actually significantly outweighs the harrier (1.6 lbs vs. 15 oz). And the falcon’s feet are truly formidable weapons compared to the smaller and weaker feet of the harrier.
Maybe the harrier was hungriest… 🙂
I just wish I had been there ten minutes earlier to see it myself – could very well be that the Harrier was the more hungry and more ready to go all out – I have though twice seen our female Harrier take out a coot ……. remarkable what these very light birds can do
Neat photo even if far away – “gophers” DO have a some weight to them! Yes, larger raptors WILL try to gaff prey in a heartbeat. Even the squabbles over road kill deer can get intense…… 😉
Was 41 at 4:30, 33 now and to drop to 16 by days end – at least no sub-zero forecast like a few days back. Front “getting it” so far. Engine block heater isn’t working and supposed to be replace tomorrow – “good old days” of going out to start something is NOT appealing….
Judy, I saw a temp of 6° this morning while out trying to find birds. That’s cold for here!
Holy crap! That’s cold for anywhere!