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Peregrine Falcon with prey
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Peregrine Falcon with prey

by David Hemmings

Gallery: AvianPosted July 7, 20083,136 views39 comments
Finally made it to Niagara Falls on Saturday. I went with Jody Melanson and another good friend. We were treated to seeing 2 adult and 3 juvenile Peregrine Falcons flying about, diving, swooping, playing and calling. we were all chatting when Jody yelled "Dave look!" We saw the Peregrine change flight direction, dissapear for a second or two behind the tree we were about 30 feet in front of. When it popped out, it had this poor hapless pigeon in it's talons. We both fired off about 24 frames, so our images are probably quite similar. This would have to rate as one of, if not my most, exciting and rewarding moments photographing birds

Canon 1D MK 111 / Canon 400 f5.6 / 1/1250th @ f8 / handheld with bushawk / manual exp /

Comments

39 comments
Comment posted by Ian Mason on July 7, 2008 at 2:39 AM
Just fantastic! What an experience to witness it and even better to capture it in such fine detail. This would have been great even with out the prey. :eek:
Registered on December 14, 2005, 399 Posts, 2305 Comments
Comment posted by Rob Drummond on July 7, 2008 at 5:11 AM
A very striking image David, well done. It's usually these times we don't have the camera!

:toast: :toast:

cheers Rob
Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments
Comment posted by Keith A Anderson on July 7, 2008 at 8:31 AM
Awesome image, David. Way to be ready for the moment when it arrived! :toast: :toast:
Registered on February 13, 2006, 166 Posts, 1818 Comments
Comment posted by Ron Dudley on July 7, 2008 at 8:38 AM
I agree with Ian - this would have been an excellent flight shot even without the pigeon. With it - extraordinary. Great capture David.
Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Olsen on July 7, 2008 at 9:04 AM
Awsome Photo David!
Great feather detail, and you even have an excellent catchlight!!
:toast: :toast:
Registered on October 19, 2006, 306 Posts, 1571 Comments
Comment posted by May Haga on July 7, 2008 at 9:14 AM
Wonderful action shot. Excellent detail in the falcon.
May
Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Tomalty on July 7, 2008 at 9:35 AM
Wow a beautiful get. The picture is great and I am impressed by the killing force of the talons of these birds. This shot really shows that.
Rick T
Registered on October 11, 2006, 212 Posts, 1610 Comments
Comment posted by Grace Blair on July 7, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Fantastic capture!!! Congratulations. Points out how important just being there is to getting a great photo!
Registered on May 12, 2005, 127 Posts, 362 Comments
Comment posted by KC Choo on July 7, 2008 at 10:21 AM
What a great experience, and to be able to capture it all! Congratulations big time!
Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Ditch on July 7, 2008 at 12:37 PM
What an amazing image! To witness this closely is wonderful in itself, but to get such a great image of it is indeed awesome.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments
Comment posted by Jim Arvanitis on July 7, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Super shot David. It sure helps being in the right place at the right time. The sharpness shows great feather detail and you've framed it just right. Just a fabulous behavior shot of
nature at it's finest and brutalist. :toast:

Jim Arvanitis
Registered on February 8, 2008, 45 Posts, 129 Comments
Comment posted by Derrick Lipinski on July 7, 2008 at 2:59 PM
Awesome capture, David! Quite an experience. Super detail and exposure! :smile:
Registered on October 5, 2007, 58 Posts, 2039 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Gulash on July 7, 2008 at 3:20 PM
Congratulations David, amazing action photo/flight photo. :toast:
Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments
Comment posted by Richard & Gail Buq on July 7, 2008 at 5:57 PM
An Outstanding capture! I know how excited you were to get this. And with that I say please remember to back it up. :toast: :toast:

Richard Buquoi
Georgetown, TX
Registered on December 18, 2005, 151 Posts, 811 Comments
Comment posted by S Govindarajan on July 7, 2008 at 8:26 PM
Amazing shot! :eek: This has everything going for it...
:toast:

-- Govind
Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments
Comment posted by Sandy Young on July 8, 2008 at 9:00 AM
Outstanding - SandyLee
Registered on April 24, 2006, 39 Posts, 173 Comments
Comment posted by Mia McPherson on July 8, 2008 at 10:44 AM
A very powerful image in all respects, I like it.
Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments
Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on July 8, 2008 at 1:23 PM
Awesome shot Dave! If it were me, I would have to make sure I had a lens with IS, because I would have been so excited, I would have been shacking like a leaf. The fact the pigeon's face is also in the capture, really adds to the drama. He has a look of shock and terror.
Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments
Comment posted by Scott Linstead on July 8, 2008 at 4:39 PM
Stunning stuff, Dave! Good to see you're back at it!

Scott
Registered on March 25, 2006, 144 Posts, 398 Comments
Comment posted by Graham Brown on July 8, 2008 at 5:44 PM
Great shot. We're all looking for special shots like this. It's all right being there but you've still got to capture the moment and this you have done superbly.
Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments
Comment posted by Alex Mody on July 8, 2008 at 6:34 PM
Great job capturing this moment! I'd be excited enough just to shoot 5 Peregrine Falcons in the same place. This is very well captured and I like everything about this.
Registered on December 25, 2007, 163 Posts, 1896 Comments
Comment posted by Jean Paul de la Ha on July 8, 2008 at 11:45 PM
WOW.... this is an action picture. Congratulations.... :toast:
Registered on May 20, 2008, 20 Posts, 55 Comments
Comment posted by Earl Arboneaux Jr on July 9, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Outstanding capture, excellent shot in flight with lots of detail. Very well done, thanks for sharing.. :smile:
Registered on June 23, 2008, 7 Posts, 44 Comments
Comment posted by Roberto Lerco on July 9, 2008 at 5:27 PM
Fantastic ... fantastic .... Fantastic.

Great David!!!!

Roberto Lerco
Verona - Italy
Registered on December 23, 2007, 8 Posts, 7 Comments
Comment posted by Simon Bennett on July 10, 2008 at 7:40 PM
Outstanding!!
Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments
Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 13, 2008 at 10:46 PM
Wow, super action David, congrats :toast:
Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments
Comment posted by Avi Hirschfield on July 14, 2008 at 2:00 PM
:toast: :toast: I just saw this A couple of days not checking and you miss a lot.
This is an incredible action shot one of the best I have seen :toast: You can pat yourself on the back with this shot :wavey:
Registered on November 1, 2003, 518 Posts, 2114 Comments
Comment posted by Wayne Jones on July 14, 2008 at 9:28 PM
Oh My! I am really sorry I missed checking out the Avian gallery this week. Thankfully, the editors appreciate this as much as I do. Congrats on the great shot, the EP, and especially for sharing this hot spot with other NPN members.
Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments
Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on July 14, 2008 at 10:01 PM
There's nothing like going through all of the effort to get to a place like this and then nailing the image when these things happen. Congratulations on the EP! :toast: :toast:
Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments
Comment posted by Kent Johnson on July 15, 2008 at 2:59 PM
Awsome capture, great reflexes to frame it so perfect.
Registered on May 17, 2007, 3 Posts, 25 Comments
Comment posted by Hans Spiecker on July 15, 2008 at 9:36 PM
You witnessed a great event, captured it and best of all, your photo nailed it! Deserving of the EP for sure.
Registered on March 23, 2006, 366 Posts, 4649 Comments
Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on July 16, 2008 at 2:03 AM
What an amazing photo!! Good going to fire off some shots during such action and excitement. To get such brilliant detail-- how rewarding! :toast: Great pick for the EP. Congratulations on the experience and the award.
Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 16, 2008 at 11:28 AM
Congratulations, David. :toast: :toast:
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on July 16, 2008 at 3:34 PM
What a moment! Well done. :toast: :toast:
Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments
Comment posted by Cliff Dodge on July 24, 2008 at 5:53 PM
Nice capture....both of you. :) Talons, eyes, wings and prey, pretty cool!
Registered on March 25, 2006, 125 Posts, 507 Comments
Comment posted by Darren Colello on August 12, 2009 at 7:23 PM
An exceptionally stunning photograph. Tremendous action sequence. Well done.
Registered on July 27, 2009, 175 Posts, 1100 Comments
Comment posted by István Molnár on January 20, 2010 at 9:20 PM
Fantastc moment.Cool shot.Nice work.Congratulation.
István
Registered on January 7, 2010, 114 Posts, 704 Comments
Comment posted by Eric Stogner on January 25, 2011 at 1:20 AM
Outstanding, Great reflex to the moment!
Registered on January 19, 2011, 18 Posts, 40 Comments
Comment posted by Ed Williams on March 16, 2018 at 12:40 AM
Wow, great capture here, both for you and for the peregrine. That pigeon is as big as the falcon.
Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments