![\"peregrine](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/peregrine-falcon-2717-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThere seems to be some question regarding the plumage of this juvenile Peregrine Falcon.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I photographed the bird last week as\u00a0it sort of hopscotched from one bit of scattered prey debris to another along the mudflats of the Great Salt Lake. Here the falcon took a brief break on a slightly elevated driftwood perch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I posted this photo of the bird four days ago and suggested that the blue-gray plumage on the back is adult\u00a0feathers coming in and most knowledgeable readers agreed but in the following comment “Mark” (not Mark Runnels) suggested another possibility – powder down:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Copyright Dan Weisz\/Arizona Desert Museum\u00a0\u2013 Image used by permission<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Dan Weisz sent me several photos of this 1 year old male Peregrine (a rehab\/education bird) showing new adult blue-gray feathers coming in on\u00a0his back and elsewhere. I added this photo to the original post but it was done late and most readers didn’t see it. After Mark saw this image he made another interesting comment:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n So I decided to post some more images of “my” bird that showed those feathers on the back and see if this question can conclusively be cleared up as I’m really quite curious about it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Many of these new images are quite similar because when the falcon would take off to land on some more nearby\u00a0prey debris it always did so into the north wind at almost the same angle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n But I thought that if I included several of them, one might provide the necessary clue to\u00a0knowledgeable readers\u00a0that I don’t have the\u00a0expertise to interpret.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Like Mark I’m curious as to\u00a0why the “new” feathers of this bird don’t show the barring that is so obvious in Dan’s male. That barring is quite apparent in the single new\u00a0adult uppertail covert of this bird\u00a0but I don’t see it elsewhere in the new feathers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, large crop,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n One last look at those feathers from the rear, this time with the wings closed.<\/p>\n I apologize for the esoteric nature of this post.\u00a0All this is likely too much bird-nerdiness for some of my readers but it has been gnawing at me for a few days so I had to at least make an attempt to satisfy my curiosity. Any and all thoughts on\u00a0this subject (and others) are welcome.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: I should include another comment Mark made on my previous post about this bird. After doing some research on Hans Peeters<\/a> I’d have to conclude that his opinion deserves considerable weight.<\/p>\n There seems to be some question regarding the plumage of this juvenile Peregrine Falcon.<\/p>\n![\"peregrine](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/peregrine-falcon-2530b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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\nIsn<\/em>\u2019t<\/em> this fun? Hans definitely knows his stuff and being such a gifted artist, he has an amazing eye for detail. It will be interesting to see if your additional photos you post support his opinion.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"