Prairie Falcon With The Great Salt Lake As Background

Yesterday a comment from one of my readers on a recent post got me thinking about Prairie Falcons.  In the comment “James” said ” I would love to see some more shots of the prairie falcon if you have any”.  I’d been considering posting more images of this beautiful female and that comment prompted me to get off my duff and finally do it.

 

prairie falcon 7121 ron dudley

 1/2500, f/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

This bird hung around the Antelope Island causeway for a couple of winters and a few times I was actually able to get close to her.  Getting close to a wild Prairie Falcon isn’t an everyday occurrence (understatement!) and I won’t soon forget my experience with her.   She chose a rock perch that I like and the background is the Great Salt Lake.

 

 

prairie falcon 7138 ron dudley

 1/3200, f/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS USM, not baited, set up or called in

After photographing her for a few minutes I removed my teleconverter for possible take-off.  As some falcons are prone to do she lifted her wings and held them there momentarily just before she launched but when she took off she turned to her left and faced mostly away from me so I deleted those shots.  I sure liked this pose though.

I’ve posted several images of this falcon in the past but these two are new to my blog.

Ron

15 Comments

  1. Gorgeous bird and fabulous photos. Incredible. Thanks

  2. I remember this bird… fondly!

  3. Absolutely outstanding in all respects…….Thank you Ron

  4. Lovely, simply lovely!

  5. Bliss. You never disappoint. Education, beauty, enchantment. Thank you.

  6. Sharon Constant

    Exquisite! You weren’t overstating when you when you called her beautiful…and the quality of your images is breathtaking. It’s been a difficult morning for me and your post has pulled me out of myself to a much better place. Thank you.

  7. Qa beautiful lady…love how her colors are echoed by those in the rock…Happy Summer!

  8. Totally amazing!!!

  9. Charlotte Norton

    Absolutely sensational shots Ron!
    Charlotte

  10. A gorgeous bird! We had one in our neighborhood a couple of years ago, which spent some time across the street, but I was not aware of the markings on it that remind me of kestrels. Thank you for starting my day out so beautifully.

    • Wow, Susan. It’s pretty unusual in my experience for a Prairie Falcon to be found in an urban or suburban environment (which from what you said I assume is the case with your neighborhood). Pretty neat!

      • Ron, my neighborhood is urban, but we are within a couple of blocks of a large tract of land belonging to the airport, which also happens to be connected to Fort Bliss, which also has a lot of open land. We got to watch it kill and eat a grackle, and saw it several times in the following weeks. It was definitely a great experience.

  11. Wow Ron!! These are fabulous images!!

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