Juvenile Peregrine Falcon (plus a look at the falcon “nostril cone”)
I’ve seen a fair number of Peregrine and Prairie Falcons on Antelope Island this winter but this is the only one that hasn’t proven elusive.
Tag: falco peregrinus
Peregrine Falcon On A Duck Kill
Juvenile Peregrine Falcon Along The Antelope Island Causeway
Peregrine Falcon On Prey And In Flight
I don’t often have opportunities with Peregrine Falcons in flight but this bird changed my fortunes for the better.
Kestrels Perch In The Oddest Places
American Kestrels are primarily perch-hunters and they’re quite flexible in their choice of perches.
Peregrine Falcon In Flight After Dining On Duck
Peregrine Falcons aren’t noted for their table manners and this one needed just a little cleaning up after dinner.
Peregrine Falcon In Flight Against Southern Utah’s Famous Red Rocks
I tend to like texture and colors in the backgrounds of birds in flight images but the bright red rocks of southern Utah might be pushing it a little.
A Surprise Peregrine Falcon And My Resulting Buck Fever
If anything will get my adrenalin gushing it’s a wild Peregrine Falcon, especially if the encounter is unexpected and I make a rookie mistake.
Escaped Falconry Bird – Peregrine Falcon
Early this morning, just as the sun was coming up over the Wasatch Mountains, we came across this adult Peregrine Falcon, with prey, along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park. It is apparently another escaped falconry bird as it had obvious falconry anklets above its feet, though the actual jesses had been removed. 1/500, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This first image was taken where we first found it – along the edge of the causeway and next to the Great Salt Lake shoreline. A few seconds after this shot was taken the bird took off. 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc But seven minutes later, as we proceeded along the causeway, we found the bird perched on this highway post. 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This shot was taken as the falcon took off from the post. You’ll notice that the leather falconry anklets, sans jesses, are apparent in each of the above three images. 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc And the last time we saw the bird it had landed far away on the large boulders lining the east side of the Antelope Island Marina. We’ve reported this sighting to the Utah Division of Natural Resources and they’ve told us that they will follow up on it. I’ve always admired the sport of falconry on several levels. Falconers generally have a deep devotion and personal attachment to their birds that I respect and they and their organizations have done a lot for raptor conservation…
Peregrine Falcon Feeding Behavior (graphic)
The Peregrine Falcon has always been a nemesis bird for me. I’ve occasionally seen them far off, either in flight or perched, but have never been able to get close to one. All that changed last week when I spent an incredible half hour very close to a young bird while it was feeding on a female Northern Shoveler. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there was no LIGHT! DAMMITALL! It was heavily overcast with only a bright spot in the clouds to mark the position of the sun. As usual, this kind of situation requires lots of compromises between shutter speed, ISO, depth of field, motion blur, catch lights, ad infinitum… So compromise I did but I still got many feeding behavior images I find interesting. And since one of the primary focuses of this blog is bird behaviors, you guessed it – a blog post… First – a warning. Some of these photos are graphic. Proceed with caution if your sensitivities are fragile. 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As I first approached this falcon it was depluming the duck. At times feathers were flying everywhere but at these shutter speeds and apertures many of those shots ended up in the delete bin. At this point I was still using the 1.4 teleconverter but the bird soon let me approach close enough that I was able to ditch the tc and get slightly more shutter speed. Take visual note of the size of the crop in this image when the falcon has just begun…
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Peregrine Falcon On A Duck Kill
Juvenile Peregrine Falcon Along The Antelope Island Causeway
Peregrine Falcon On Prey And In Flight
I don’t often have opportunities with Peregrine Falcons in flight but this bird changed my fortunes for the better.
Kestrels Perch In The Oddest Places
American Kestrels are primarily perch-hunters and they’re quite flexible in their choice of perches.
Peregrine Falcon In Flight After Dining On Duck
Peregrine Falcons aren’t noted for their table manners and this one needed just a little cleaning up after dinner.
Peregrine Falcon In Flight Against Southern Utah’s Famous Red Rocks
I tend to like texture and colors in the backgrounds of birds in flight images but the bright red rocks of southern Utah might be pushing it a little.
A Surprise Peregrine Falcon And My Resulting Buck Fever
If anything will get my adrenalin gushing it’s a wild Peregrine Falcon, especially if the encounter is unexpected and I make a rookie mistake.
Escaped Falconry Bird – Peregrine Falcon
Early this morning, just as the sun was coming up over the Wasatch Mountains, we came across this adult Peregrine Falcon, with prey, along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park. It is apparently another escaped falconry bird as it had obvious falconry anklets above its feet, though the actual jesses had been removed. 1/500, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This first image was taken where we first found it – along the edge of the causeway and next to the Great Salt Lake shoreline. A few seconds after this shot was taken the bird took off. 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc But seven minutes later, as we proceeded along the causeway, we found the bird perched on this highway post. 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This shot was taken as the falcon took off from the post. You’ll notice that the leather falconry anklets, sans jesses, are apparent in each of the above three images. 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc And the last time we saw the bird it had landed far away on the large boulders lining the east side of the Antelope Island Marina. We’ve reported this sighting to the Utah Division of Natural Resources and they’ve told us that they will follow up on it. I’ve always admired the sport of falconry on several levels. Falconers generally have a deep devotion and personal attachment to their birds that I respect and they and their organizations have done a lot for raptor conservation…
Peregrine Falcon Feeding Behavior (graphic)
The Peregrine Falcon has always been a nemesis bird for me. I’ve occasionally seen them far off, either in flight or perched, but have never been able to get close to one. All that changed last week when I spent an incredible half hour very close to a young bird while it was feeding on a female Northern Shoveler. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there was no LIGHT! DAMMITALL! It was heavily overcast with only a bright spot in the clouds to mark the position of the sun. As usual, this kind of situation requires lots of compromises between shutter speed, ISO, depth of field, motion blur, catch lights, ad infinitum… So compromise I did but I still got many feeding behavior images I find interesting. And since one of the primary focuses of this blog is bird behaviors, you guessed it – a blog post… First – a warning. Some of these photos are graphic. Proceed with caution if your sensitivities are fragile. 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As I first approached this falcon it was depluming the duck. At times feathers were flying everywhere but at these shutter speeds and apertures many of those shots ended up in the delete bin. At this point I was still using the 1.4 teleconverter but the bird soon let me approach close enough that I was able to ditch the tc and get slightly more shutter speed. Take visual note of the size of the crop in this image when the falcon has just begun…