Peregrine Falcon Fledges

Gallery: AvianPosted October 29, 2014399 views21 comments

May 18, 2014 in San Diego, California, these two fledges were engaged in what under different circumstances might appear to be mating behavior. The male on the left flew to where the female was sitting and began to engage in bird kissing.

Nikon D4 Nikkor 600mm ISO 800 White Balance Auto F5.6 1/1250 RAW Taken on a tripod with a Wimberley Gimbal. Processed in Lightroom, PhotoshipCC14, TK and NIK. The photo contained all of the male and it was cropped to this vignette.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated.

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Kathy Barnhart on October 29, 2014 at 11:26 PM

What a great catch. I'm glad you described it as bird kissing, because it also looks like parenting. But very tender at any rate. I like the comp very much.

Registered on November 11, 2011, 404 Posts, 1639 Comments

Comment posted by Thiraviyam Yogaraj on October 30, 2014 at 12:10 AM

What a fantastic image with an interesting story

Registered on June 13, 2013, 101 Posts, 100 Comments

Comment posted by Tjie Poo on October 30, 2014 at 1:46 AM

Fabulous behavioral capture Patrick ! I like the composition a lot. Details and lighting are outstanding. On a scale of 0 to 10, this one is a 12 !!!

Registered on December 4, 2012, 51 Posts, 511 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on October 30, 2014 at 4:38 AM

Patrick,
Beautiful moment complimented by a beautiful capture

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on October 30, 2014 at 8:19 AM

Great view of an intimate moment. I can't think of any critiques. I think you nailed it.

Max

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

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on October 30, 2014 at 10:42 AM

Wow, what a fantastic moment to capture !

. Hans

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

Comment posted by Jefferson Silva on October 30, 2014 at 10:59 AM

Impressive!
Very beautiful image

Registered on December 18, 2012, 162 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on October 30, 2014 at 11:47 AM

Patrick:
I liked it last night when we processed it, and I still like it!

Very nice moment.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on October 30, 2014 at 12:07 PM

Excellent interaction capture and impeccable techs, Patrick. The sense of intimacy is outstanding.

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

Comment posted by Richard Sandor on October 30, 2014 at 2:10 PM

What an excellent capture of a beautiful moment. Praiseworthy in all respects. Richard

Registered on January 12, 2014, 453 Posts, 1625 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on October 30, 2014 at 5:43 PM

An awesome behavior capture of this pair Patrick

The connecting beaks are wonderful. Excellent details and a very pleasing composition.

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on October 31, 2014 at 2:45 AM

Oh man, Patrick--this is a fantastic frame. The extreme close-up view of these two and their behavior make this impossible to ignore...and impossible not to appreciate. Colours and techs are wonderful. Of course because you mentioned you had the full body of the male, now I wonder if that wouldn't be "better," but I suspect this is the stronger image and more importantly, it's the crop/comp you chose as the artist and it is a mighty fine image as a result. I literally have to keep scrolling back up or clicking back to the larger version to soak it in more even while writing this short note of appreciation. Outstanding.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on October 31, 2014 at 8:08 AM

IMHO this is well shot and composed. I really like it. Capturing behavior is one of my favorite image subjects. Well done.

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on October 31, 2014 at 5:10 PM

For the fierce looking hunters they are, this is such a tender moment. Very striking in that regard. Beautiful capture and processing. I think the crop helps to focus on what the birds are doing.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by Ashleigh Scully on October 31, 2014 at 5:16 PM

This is beautiful! I love the square crop and the details are awesome!

Registered on November 4, 2013, 36 Posts, 210 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on October 31, 2014 at 9:45 PM

Love it Patrick! Nice work all around and great behavior.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Todd Bauer on November 1, 2014 at 11:10 PM

It's so good that it seems opinions are superfluous. Kudos.

Registered on May 28, 2014, 50 Posts, 176 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on November 5, 2014 at 8:06 AM

Wonderful capture, such a beautiful interaction! Nicely done.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on November 7, 2014 at 10:57 AM

Congrats Patrick, very nice!!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Yun Gao on November 13, 2014 at 12:17 AM

Impressive and wonderful! Congrats!

Registered on September 11, 2012, 267 Posts, 1621 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on January 4, 2015 at 2:05 PM

Hey Patrick,
Since we are going through each others Galleries I just wanted to let you know that this is one sweet image. The choices you have made are all working excellently together, well done on this one.
Stay warm my friend . . .

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