Category: Peregrine Falcons

An Interesting Observation About Falcon Behavior

I’ve noticed an apparent behavioral quirk in some of the falcon species I’ve photographed and it’s tweaked my curiosity a bit.  I’ve seen it most often in Prairie Falcons but that’s most likely because I get more opportunities with that species than I do any other of the large falcons.   More often than not the Prairie Falcon holds its wings up or out (or both) for a few moments before it takes off.  Sometimes the posture is maintained for quite a while.  This is one of the better shots I have of it.  Most of the photos to follow have reduced image quality but I include them to document the behavior.     This bird held the posture for so long that I filled my buffer twice before it actually took off.     Most often I’ve seen it prior to take-off from an elevated perch like this one but it also happens occasionally when they take off from the ground.     Another Prairie Falcon showing the posture.     I don’t see it nearly as often with the American Kestrel as I do with larger falcons.  Perhaps that has to do with the relative ease of take-off for this diminutive falcon.     I get few opportunities with Merlins but I’ve noticed it occasionally with this species also. I’m not sure if Peregrine Falcons do it.  Usually when I’ve been close enough to photograph peregrines they’ve been on prey on the ground and they may be less likely to show the behavior when taking off from a…

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Good News Regarding The Escaped Peregrine Falcon and American Kestrel

Recently I’ve photographed and posted about two escaped falconry birds – a female American Kestrel and a Peregrine Falcon.  Both were flying free with attached jesses and/or anklets in the vicinity of Antelope Island.  Both were reported to wildlife authorities and to the falconry community but each bird has been a challenge to recapture for a variety of reasons – among them the difficulty of getting proper permission for the licensed trapper to attempt the recapture of the kestrel in a state park.  There were lots of hoops to jump through. It is very likely, for a variety of reasons, that both of these birds were originally captured illegally by “wannabe” falconers and not by anyone in the organized and licensed falconry community. Two days after we found the kestrel we met the licensed trapper out on the island to point out the area where the bird was hanging out and to try to find her, which we never did.   But yesterday morning we spotted the female Kestrel once again, in the very same area where we found her before.  She was far off but when she scratched her face one of the jesses became obvious, as you can see in this photo.  I immediately called the trapper to report that the bird was in the area again and she was enthusiastic about making the attempt but as far as she knew, permissions from the state still hadn’t been obtained. A little background before I get to the good news.  When Mark Runnels (master falconer from Oklahoma) saw my first post on the female kestrel,…

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Yet Another Escaped Falconry Bird – This Time A Female American Kestrel

Yesterday morning I spotted this female American Kestrel perched on a far-off rock to the west on Antelope Island.  She was much too far away for decent photographs (as is obvious from the mediocre quality of these first five photos) but when I see raptors at most any distance it’s my practice to “scope them out” through my lens so I can ID them and look for anything unusual or interesting.   I took a couple of shots for documentary purposes but at first I didn’t notice anything noteworthy about her except for the keratin flaking off of her beak.     But then she scratched her face with her foot.  Jesses!  Those damned jesses again.   In this shot you can see anklets above both feet and the jess on the left leg.     She perched and preened on the rock for quite a while and a few minutes later she scratched with her other foot which provided a good look at the jess on the right ankle.     I’m including this shot for a look at her right side, in the unlikely event that some local falconer may recognize her.     I hung around for a long time in the hopes of catching her at take-off for a better look at both jesses and anklets.  As luck would have it, when it happened they were both in shade and I lost focus on the bird but the photo still provides a decent look at the jesses.   I’m deeply troubled by this event and I’ll provide a little background as…

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Falconry – A Detriment To The Birds?

As some of you will remember, I’ve recently made two posts calling into question some of the ethics of the “sport” (some don’t like that term) of falconry.   This was the bird that prompted my most recent post – an “escaped” female Peregrine Falcon that I photographed along the Antelope Island causeway a few weeks ago.  You’ll notice that she still has her leather falconry anklets above her feet (only one can be seen in this photo).     And last year, this escaped male American Kestrel was loose near Farmington Bay WMA and it still had not only its anklets but its jesses.  The extreme danger to the bird of having those long, dangling jesses engangle and kill the kestrel is obvious. In both posts I questioned the ethics of falconry in general, but admitting my relative ignorance of the subject I asked (on the second post) for more information from my readers to “enlighten” me on the subject. For those who haven’t seen those posts and have the interest, here’s the links: Escaped Falconry Bird – Peregrine Falcon Escaped Falconry Bird – Peregrine Falcon, Again   Mark Runnels, a master falconer from Oklahoma, responded to the second post with a series of very detailed, knowledgeable and thoughtful comments on falconry – responding to each of my concerns dispassionately and eloquently. However, that post was made on September 17 and Mark didn’t begin to comment until October 23, which means that his valuable information likely went under the radar for most of my readers (very few folks come back to a…

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Escaped Falconry Bird – Peregrine Falcon, Again

This morning, just as the sun was peeking over the mountains, we found this Peregrine Falcon along the Antelope Island Causeway.    1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in It was feeding on a bird of some kind, possibly prey stolen from another falcon, as we saw two of them as we approached but one flew off.  The falcon was intent on its meal and allowed me to photograph it for 22 minutes.  The lighting was low and difficult, with the light hitting the bright breast of the bird and leaving its darker parts in shade for much of that time.  Photographers will note from my techs that I fiddled with my settings quite a bit – adjusting for the quickly changing light and the removal of my tc in anticipation of take-off.  It was a challenging situation for me.     1/640, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in  It kept wanting/trying to eat the feet and legs of the bird but as far as I could tell the falcon never actually swallowed them.      1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This falcon is obviously an escaped Falconry bird – notice the leather falconry anklets just above the feet.  Here the falcon turned broadside to the light for just a few moments.      1/3200, f/5, ISO 640, 500 f/4, natural light, not baited, set up…

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The Challenges Of Photographing Falcons On Antelope Island

There are three species of Falcons that reside on Antelope Island through much of the year – the American Kestrel, Prairie Falcon and Peregrine Falcon.  A fourth, the Merlin, is mostly a winter resident.  For many of us there’s something almost mystical about falcons and most bird photographers I know ache to get quality shots of them.  But doing so isn’t easy anywhere and Antelope Island is no exception. In my experience there are three reasons why falcons on the island are so difficult to photograph well: The falcons are there but, with the exception of the kestrel, they’re difficult to find.  For most of the year Peregrines and Prairies hang out in the remotest parts of the island that are inaccessible to us due to park rules and difficulties of negotiating such steep terrain.  However, all three species hunt the causeway during winter so that’s the best chance for the photographer. Generally you just can’t get close to them.  Kestrels are notorious for that trait, probably because they’re so common that lots of folks try with them.  But common certainly doesn’t mean approachable.  It’s not unusual to see a Peregrine perched far out on the mud flats but there’s no way to get close and if you tried they’d fly off.   Prairie Falcons can often be spotted high up on the rocks around the central part of the island but they’re invariably much too far away and seldom perch near the road. Peregrines and Prairies are much easier to approach in very low light, especially just before sunup.  But low light makes for crappy images. I’ve…

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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…

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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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