![\"peregrine](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/peregrine-falcon-6871-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"peregrine")
<\/p>\nEarly this morning, just as the sun was coming up over the Wasatch Mountains, we came across this adult Peregrine\u00a0Falcon, with prey,\u00a0 along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.\u00a0 It is apparently another escaped falconry bird as it had obvious falconry anklets above its feet, though the actual jesses had\u00a0been removed.<\/p>\n
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1\/500, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4\u00a0tc<\/em><\/p>\n This first image was taken where we first found it – along the edge of the causeway and next to the Great Salt Lake shoreline.\u00a0 A few seconds after this shot was taken the bird took off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/800, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0But seven minutes later, as we proceeded along the causeway, we found the bird\u00a0perched on this highway post.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1000, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n This shot was taken as the falcon took off from the post.\u00a0 You’ll notice that the leather falconry anklets, sans jesses, are apparent in each of the above three images.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2000, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n And the last time we saw the bird it had landed far away\u00a0on the large boulders lining the east side of the Antelope Island Marina.<\/p>\n We’ve reported this sighting to the Utah Division of Natural Resources and they’ve told us that they will follow up on it.<\/p>\n I’ve always admired the sport of falconry on\u00a0several\u00a0levels.\u00a0 Falconers generally have a deep devotion and personal attachment to their birds that I respect and\u00a0they and their organizations have done a lot for raptor\u00a0conservation and education.\u00a0 Several folks that I consider friends are falconers.<\/p>\n But I must admit that I’m\u00a0beginning to have some misgivings in regard to falconry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Peregrine Falcon isn’t the first escaped falconry bird we’ve come across.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Less than three years ago we found\u00a0this American Kestrel\u00a0falconry escapee close to Farmington Bay\u00a0and it\u00a0was still trailing two long jesses.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Normally, falconry birds are banded but this one wasn’t – it only had its jesses.\u00a0 Later we discovered that the kestrel had removed its own band.<\/p>\n We\u00a0reported this\u00a0kestrel and eventually it was caught and returned to its “owner” – underweight, but otherwise healthy.\u00a0 But a very short time later this bird escaped a\u00a0second time – again with jesses still attached.\u00a0\u00a0 Having to survive in the wild after significant\u00a0time spent in captivity, especially with anklets and\/or jesses still on their feet to encumber them, couldn’t be easy.<\/p>\n Add to that the fact that many falconry birds are legally taken (trapped or removed from nests as nestlings) from wild populations.\u00a0\u00a0 Somehow, that just doesn’t sit very well with me.<\/p>\n I’ll be the first to admit that perhaps\u00a0I don’t know\u00a0or understand everything I should about falconry before making the personal decision to support or oppose this activity (something I’ve been struggling with for several years now).\u00a0 If anyone\u00a0should care\u00a0to further enlighten me (or my readers)\u00a0on the subject I’d be a willing consumer of relevant information.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Early this morning, just as the sun was coming up over the Wasatch Mountains, we came across this adult Peregrine\u00a0Falcon, with prey,\u00a0 along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.\u00a0 It is apparently another escaped falconry bird as it had obvious falconry anklets above its feet, though the actual jesses had\u00a0been removed. 1\/500, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4\u00a0tc This first image was taken where we first found it – along the edge of the causeway and next to the Great Salt Lake shoreline.\u00a0 A few seconds after this shot was taken the bird took off. \u00a01\/800, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc \u00a0But seven minutes later, as we proceeded along the causeway, we found the bird\u00a0perched on this highway post. \u00a01\/1000, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc This shot was taken as the falcon took off from the post.\u00a0 You’ll notice that the leather falconry anklets, sans jesses, are apparent in each of the above three images. \u00a01\/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\u00a0on 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\u00a0several\u00a0levels.\u00a0 Falconers generally have a deep devotion and personal attachment to their birds that I respect and\u00a0they and their organizations have done a lot for raptor\u00a0conservation…<\/p>\n![\"peregrine](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/peregrine-falcon-6897-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"peregrine")
<\/p>\n![\"peregrine](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/peregrine-falcon-6907-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"peregrine")
<\/p>\n![\"peregrine](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/peregrine-falcon-6922-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"peregrine")
<\/p>\n![\"american](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/american-kestrel-7166-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american")
<\/p>\n![\"american](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/american-kestrel-7167-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american")
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