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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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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