Prairie Falcon

Gallery: AvianPosted November 12, 20121,109 views18 comments

Yesterday morning I watched as this adult Prairie Falcon ambushed a male Northern Shoveler on the Great Salt Lake, then it waited patiently for the waves and wind to wash the duck to the shore. At first it tried to enjoy its meal right at the shore edge but small waves kept coming in and "rocking the boat", so here the falcon was dragging the duck further on shore. It gave me eye contact for this split second.

I've documented the entire episode here, if you're interested:
http://featheredphotography.com/blog/2012/11/11/an-incredible-experience-with-a-prairie-falcon-and-a-hapless-duck/

7D, 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, 5 f/4, 1.4 tc, shot from pickup window on 11/11/12, cropped to 51% of original image, exposure adjustment in ACR, sharpened both birds and some of the rocks, no additional processing or adjustments, natural light, no bait, no decoy, not set up or called in

Larger version provided

Comments/critique appreciated

Comments

18 comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on November 12, 2012 at 6:53 PM

Wow, let me be the first to say congrats Ron, great image, experience and series. Love the head on pose and wing spread in this image, way to go.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Verdon on November 12, 2012 at 6:58 PM

excellent pose and eye contact, well done, congrats and thank you for sharing

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on November 12, 2012 at 7:24 PM

Just when I was starting to feel like I was getting pretty good you had to come along and post this. Thanks a lot, Ron. Seriously though, this photo has everything you could ask for including a great species of bird. Congratulations, Ron.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on November 12, 2012 at 8:07 PM

Very Nice Ron,
This is an outstanding capture and the entire sequence is very good, except for the duck of course, a real education on the behavior of this Falcon and well presented.

Congrats on the well deserved WP

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on November 12, 2012 at 8:31 PM

Awesome! An amazing image, without baiting, as the result of time, patience, experience, and skill.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on November 12, 2012 at 8:34 PM

Ron -just went through the series on your blog, what excellent timing. You nailed it all here and it's not "gory" which tends to turn off a lot of people. Kudos and this is well deserved after all the time you put into the field

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on November 12, 2012 at 11:05 PM

Amazing. I enjoyed your photo journal. I really like the image just before this one too.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on November 13, 2012 at 1:39 AM

Incredible series!! Just spectacular!
At a loss for words... not enough superlatives in the english language.

Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on November 13, 2012 at 4:14 AM

Excellent shot and the sequence on your blog is definitely worth visiting, what a thing to witness ! Image quality great as ever

, Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on November 13, 2012 at 6:37 AM

Great capture and eye contact Ron

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on November 13, 2012 at 8:39 AM

Absolutely superb! An experience etched in your memory for ever -wonderful!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on November 13, 2012 at 12:49 PM

Ron-this was the image from the series that I hoped you'd post. Terrific behavioral capture and an incredible shot! Your blog on this series of shots is a must see, and read. Congratulations on such an incredible documentation.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on November 13, 2012 at 10:43 PM

Loved the whole series, Ron, though the extended wings here make this one my favorite of the bunch. Nicely done.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on November 13, 2012 at 11:41 PM

Good timing to get the look and I like seeing the wing spread. Interesting white color scheme to this falcon (I have never seen one) and the IQ looks very good for the crop, way to go Ron.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on November 16, 2012 at 6:54 PM

Perfect capture Ron. Love the prey, the uplifted wings and the way the bird is looking into the camera.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on November 17, 2012 at 12:37 AM

Great pose from the Falcon, nice timing Ron. Love the setting and while unfortunate for the hapless duck, a great predator/prey behavior action capture. Congratulations Ron on this fine shot.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on November 17, 2012 at 7:00 PM

"A once in a lifetime experience" And you did well to capture the whole story Ron, a wonderful natural history series.

This photo is the icing on the cake

Although I really like the portrait of him sitting on the rocks too.

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on November 21, 2012 at 10:58 PM

Simply outstanding, Ron. Congratulations on a well-deserved EP.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments