Tag: falco mexicanus

Clumsy Prairie Falcon

This young Prairie Falcon had apparently been hunting ducks near the edge of the Great Salt Lake and got some of its belly feathers wet so it landed on a rock near the lake for some rest and preening.  It posed for me for over 12 minutes which I appreciated but the light was low and variable due to the ever-changing thickness of the clouds.   1/800, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc  At first the falcon was fairly wary of me because I was quite close.     1/800, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc But after a few minutes it settled into its preening again.     1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4 But this was a juvenile bird and not quite so suave and sure of its movements as an adult would be and suddenly it slipped on its perch and would have fallen backwards if it hadn’t caught itself with its wings and climbed back up on the rock. Even though I didn’t get much light in the eye I still got lucky on this shot.  I’d been shooting this bird with my tc attached and at a relatively slow shutter speed and the falcon pretty much filled the frame.  Just before I took this image I removed my tc and ratcheted up my ISO to get more shutter speed for a possible take-off shot.  If I hadn’t done that the wings would likely have been soft from motion blur and I’d have cut off parts of the bird with the tc attached. …

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Just A Shot That I LIke… #23 – Prairie Falcon Take-Off

This morning I found this Prairie Falcon on top of a huge boulder – big enough that I was looking up at the bird.  Its tail was hidden for the perched shots so my best hope was for take-off photos.   1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc When it did lift off it started out in my direction which didn’t give me the best light on the bird.  After the first wing beat it banked to the birds left which was ideal for good light.  Only problem – I clipped a wing on all those shots.  Maybe next time I’ll remember to take off the teleconverter! Ron

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Just A Shot That I Like… #22 – Wet And Bedraggled Prairie Falcon

For several months this winter this young Prairie Falcon would hang around the Antelope Island causeway in the early mornings hunting ducks (mostly Northern Shovelers).  There’s very few ducks there now so the falcon spends most of its time on the island (rather than on the causeway) hunting Western Meadowlarks and Horned Larks.  Since falcons are much more difficult to approach in the wide open expanses of the island I doubt I’ll get any more closeups of this bird anytime soon.      1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4 On this mostly cloudy morning the light was poor but shortly after I approached this bird there was just enough sun coming through a thin spot in the clouds to give me some light in the eyes.  Some of the lower feathers of the falcon were wet and bedraggled which I assume was caused by hunting ducks in the shallows of the lake. I’m always delighted whenever I can get close enough to one of the larger falcons that I can remove my teleconverter.  To say that doesn’t happen very often is huge understatement. Ron

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Just A Shot That I Like… #14 – Prairie Falcon Warming In The Early Morning Sun

As I’ve mentioned previously in this blog Prairie Falcons have been one of my nemesis birds for a very long time.  But recently I had several close up opportunities with the species.     1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This juvenile falcon had been hunting smaller duck species along the shore of the Great Salt Lake and would occasionally rest on some shoreline rocks.  This time I caught it enjoying the warming rays of the sun just minutes after sunrise.  Here the warm light has just reached the bird and perch but hadn’t yet hit much of  the water in the background.  I’ve posted several images of this species recently and perhaps I’ve overdone it but I guess my excitement over finally “conquering” a nemesis just got the best of me… Ron Addendum:  A note to any bird photographers who may notice my camera settings for this image and wonder about them.  I certainly didn’t need 1/3200 shutter speed for this static image but I had already taken multiple shots of this falcon with more appropriate settings for a perched bird so now that I had enough light I decided to increase my shutter speed in preparation for take-off.   But of course the bird took off  facing away from me so I deleted those images. 

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Just A Shot That I Like… #10 – Prairie Falcon In Flight, With Duck Kill

This morning was cold and very windy out on Antelope Island and most of the birds seemed to have taken refuge from the freezing gale so as we left the island I figured it would be one of  those relatively rare days when I had been photographically “skunked”.   But as is so often the case, the island had a pleasant last-minute surprise in store for me.     1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This Prairie Falcon had apparently killed a duck (which I believe to be a Northern Shoveler) and was trying to defend it from two marauding ravens so the  falcon decided to haul the shoveler off to a more private and secluded dining area.  That turned out to be an unfortunate decision as very soon after this photo was taken a Bald Eagle flew in and forced the falcon to drop the duck.  The eagle flew down to the ice, retrieved the duck and nonchalantly flew off with it. The wing and back of the duck are covered with snow/ice crystals.  The out of focus lighter “blobs” in the lower background are whitecaps on the Great Salt Lake.  This falcon is the same bird I photographed a little over a month ago and posted here.  I know that to be the case because the same wing covert is askew in both birds (though it can’t be seen in this image).  I’ve now been able to photograph this falcon on four different occasions in the last few weeks.  What a treat! Ron

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Just A Shot That I Like… #8 – Prairie Falcon In Warm Light

I’ve tried and failed for a long time to catch a raptor perched on the darker rocks (Farmington Canyon Complex) that are most common on the southern part of Antelope Island.  I think these rocks make much more attractive perches than the almost white and difficult to properly expose Tintic Quartzite boulders on the north portion of the island.   Last week I finally succeeded with this Prairie Falcon.    1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc As an added bonus the sun was just coming up over the Wasatch Mountains so the golden light added some warmth to the image which I like.  I only got off  a handful of shots but at least the bird turned its head into the light before it  flew off.  Based on bill color I believe it to be a first year bird.  Now if I could only get this close to a Peregrine Falcon in good light… Ron

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Prairie Falcon – A Nemesis Resolved

Every avian photographer has their “nemesis birds” – a species or two that the gods of photography have foiled any and every attempt at getting quality images of.  For me the Prairie Falcon has been at or near the top of that list.   I particularly love to photograph raptors but locating and then getting close to this falcon in good light has eluded me for five years now.  But two days ago I resolved that dilemma!     1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 1.4 tc We first spotted this bird coming towards us along the Antelope Island causeway just as the sun peeked over the Wasatch.  It soon landed on this stump and in good light but I wasn’t quite as close to the bird as I’d like to have been.  Soon it lifted off and hunted the causeway going west, causing quite a ruckus among the gulls, shorebirds and ducks as it approached them.  It was fairly easy to track the falcon by watching for groups of panicked birds taking to the air.      1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 800, 1.4 tc Next it landed on this interesting rock and I was able to get a little closer.  The background is a little funky with the harsh color transition between water and rocky shoreline passing through the bird but I liked the perch and the good look at the entire bird, including tail.  I suspect that this falcon has learned the fine art of thievery.  Earlier this week we observed a Prairie Falcon along the causeway chase off a Peregrine Falcon from its Ruddy Duck…

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