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I anticipated this falcon to take off and I tracked it at 10fps until it disappeared behind some cliffs. I got 21 frames from the beginning until its tail was still showing. Here are 8 images from that sequence. BTW, some feathers from its prey still stuck in the claws .
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Joshua
Terrific set of photos, Joshua! I have been watching recently hatched Peregrine Falcon chicks in a nest on the UC Berkeley campanile: . It is fascinating to see how fast the chicks are growing 6 days after the first two hatched. In addition I watched a Q&A by the folks who operate this webcam () and learned that the falcons can "stoop" at 250 mph to do an aerial dive to catch their prey in flight. Fascinating and beautiful animals.
dallvr wrote:
Terrific set of photos, Joshua! I have been watching recently hatched Peregrine Falcon chicks in a nest on the UC Berkeley campanile: . It is fascinating to see how fast the chicks are growing 6 days after the first two hatched. In addition I watched a Q&A by the folks who operate this webcam () and learned that the falcons can "stoop" at 250 mph to do an aerial dive to catch their prey in flight. Fascinating and beautiful animals.
Shirley,
I just watched both clips; thank you for the links. And thank you for your kind words, too, of course. The female falcon in those images is currently incubating the eggs. We anticipate the eggs to hatch by the end of this month. After that both mom and dad will be busy feeding the chicks. Dad is doing more hunting and will call out to mom to grab the food and they do that most of the time mid-air. I do have plenty of falcon images documenting their behavior but I still miss good mid-air food transfer images. So, in about a week, I will be spending more time at the site.
AGeoJO wrote:
Shirley,
I just watched both clips; thank you for the links. And thank you for your kind words, too, of course. The female falcon in those images is currently incubating the eggs. We anticipate the eggs to hatch by the end of this month. After that both mom and dad will be busy feeding the chicks. Dad is doing more hunting and will call out to mom to grab the food and they do that most of the time mid-air. I do have plenty of falcon images documenting their behavior but I still miss good mid-air food transfer images. So, in about a week, I will be spending time at the site.
Joshua, I look forward to seeing your photos of the mid-air food transfer. With this webcam, I've only seen the male come in with food while the female takes a bit of a break. The chicks have grown quite a bit in a week, and so feedings are more frequent.
Excellent sequence of shots! The light for these shots was ideal.
I wish we could follow the falcons, but our sites here in SD are closed. I was at Torrey Pines several weeks ago and the Peregrines were starting to nest, but there were way too many people on the beach and the trail at the top of the cliff. I quickly left and have not returned. It's not clear when we will be able to get back to check on them. I expect when the beaches and parks re-open it will be a mob scene. Maybe no Peregrines for me this year.
These are excellent Joshua in presentation. Really a nice perch and BG too. I've looked them over several times.............impressive captures for sure
Impressive Joshua! Now with Firefox all images seem absolutely perfect in clarity and details. Great sequence but to my eyes #3, #5, and #7 are outstanding
Manuel
dallvr wrote:
Joshua, I look forward to seeing your photos of the mid-air food transfer. With this webcam, I've only seen the male come in with food while the female takes a bit of a break. The chicks have grown quite a bit in a week, and so feedings are more frequent.
Thank you, Shirley! We will see how lucky I can get this season around... The problem is the location is quite far away from my place, unlike the location of the burrowing owls I photographed quite a bit last year.
dclark wrote:
Excellent sequence of shots! The light for these shots was ideal.
I wish we could follow the falcons, but our sites here in SD are closed. I was at Torrey Pines several weeks ago and the Peregrines were starting to nest, but there were way too many people on the beach and the trail at the top of the cliff. I quickly left and have not returned. It's not clear when we will be able to get back to check on them. I expect when the beaches and parks re-open it will be a mob scene. Maybe no Peregrines for me this year.
Dave, thank you very much! The nesting time is about the same down there and up here. In about a week or so, the eggs should hatch. I would give it at least another try, Dave.
Karl Witt wrote:
These are excellent Joshua in presentation. Really a nice perch and BG too. I've looked them over several times.............impressive captures for sure
Karl
Karl, thank you very much! Yes, the slope in the background is a mile away... well, not really, but far away. Hence, the smooth background using that long lens.
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