Posted by Mia McPherson on August 21, 2009 at 6:40 PM
This morning Ron Dudley and I visited the Burrowing Owl family that we have been photographing for about 4- 5 weeks and were able to see the 4 juveniles and one adult again.
I was hoping to capture some images of the owls in flight and noticed that one flew out to the mudflats away from the burrow because it had made a call that caught my attention.
As I trained my lens on the owl on the mud flat about 60 yards away, I realized that the owl was not alone.
The first image shows just the wing tip of another bird at the upper left side of the frame.
It took me a few seconds to recognize what I was seeing and what the species of the other bird was, it was a Peregrine Falcon and it appeared to be trying to attack the owl!
For a few brief moments I was paralyzed by fear. The emotional attachment I have felt towards the owls has grown over the weeks and I had not realized the full extent of it until I thought I was going to witness one of the juveniles deaths.
About that time a hummingbird showed up about 20 feet from the truck window and hovered there for about a full minute, I was torn between photographing the owl, the Peregrine and the hummingbird.
The second image shows the juvenile owl flying back towards the burrow from the mudflat in attempt to avoid the falcon.
The third image shows what we believe to be a juvenile Peregrine Falcon, of the Tundra subspecies as it made another pass towards the owl's burrow.
Ron has a few more images & commentary to add and that will be Part II.
For quite some time after this incident this morning I felt I had let myself down by becoming emotionally attached to this owl family and that I had become immobile during some parts of the episode. I have witnessed Peregrine Falcons attack other species, but they were not a family that I had watched for weeks and I was not immobilized by the attacks of the Falcons.
For those few seconds I lost my "focus" literally, but I learned a lesson this morning about myself, the attachment I have towards the owls and realized that in the natural order if the Peregrine had killed the owl in front of us it would have just been part of the natural cycle of life.
Posted by Mia McPherson on August 21, 2009 at 6:40 PM
Image 2, the juvenile owl flying back towards the burrow
Posted by Mia McPherson on August 21, 2009 at 6:41 PM
Image 3, what we believe to be a juvenile Peregrine Falcon of the Tundra subspecies
Posted by Richard Ditch on August 22, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Very interesting story and images. I've not seen a Peregrine go after anything but waterfowl and pigeons.
I think your emotional reaction here was completely normal - I know I'd have felt exactly the same in these circumstances. I know we "rank" birds in our back yard: we take it as natural when a Cooper's Hawk grabs a dove form our yard but get upset when a mockingbird or wren is the target. And when we had a coachwhip show up a few weeks ago it was very exciting to see, but then we worried that it would start taking the lizards that we watch daily in the yard.
Posted by Richard Ditch on August 22, 2009 at 12:39 PM
we believe to be a juvenile Peregrine Falcon of the Tundra subspecies
I agree. At first the narrow sideburn and overall pale look had me learning to Prairie Falcon, I checked in my Wheeler and Clark Photographic Guide to North American Raptors. Image P05 on page 151 is a good fit and is noted as "Juvenile Tundra Peregrine. Juveniles are heavily streaked on underparts. Note pale head and narrow mustache of Tundra juvenile."
Posted by Amir Ayalon on August 25, 2009 at 7:19 AM
wow, quite a story.
i think i too would have felt emotionally attached
Discussion
5 repliesI was hoping to capture some images of the owls in flight and noticed that one flew out to the mudflats away from the burrow because it had made a call that caught my attention.
As I trained my lens on the owl on the mud flat about 60 yards away, I realized that the owl was not alone.
The first image shows just the wing tip of another bird at the upper left side of the frame.
It took me a few seconds to recognize what I was seeing and what the species of the other bird was, it was a Peregrine Falcon and it appeared to be trying to attack the owl!
For a few brief moments I was paralyzed by fear. The emotional attachment I have felt towards the owls has grown over the weeks and I had not realized the full extent of it until I thought I was going to witness one of the juveniles deaths.
About that time a hummingbird showed up about 20 feet from the truck window and hovered there for about a full minute, I was torn between photographing the owl, the Peregrine and the hummingbird.
The second image shows the juvenile owl flying back towards the burrow from the mudflat in attempt to avoid the falcon.
The third image shows what we believe to be a juvenile Peregrine Falcon, of the Tundra subspecies as it made another pass towards the owl's burrow.
Ron has a few more images & commentary to add and that will be Part II.
For quite some time after this incident this morning I felt I had let myself down by becoming emotionally attached to this owl family and that I had become immobile during some parts of the episode. I have witnessed Peregrine Falcons attack other species, but they were not a family that I had watched for weeks and I was not immobilized by the attacks of the Falcons.
For those few seconds I lost my "focus" literally, but I learned a lesson this morning about myself, the attachment I have towards the owls and realized that in the natural order if the Peregrine had killed the owl in front of us it would have just been part of the natural cycle of life.
I think your emotional reaction here was completely normal - I know I'd have felt exactly the same in these circumstances. I know we "rank" birds in our back yard: we take it as natural when a Cooper's Hawk grabs a dove form our yard but get upset when a mockingbird or wren is the target. And when we had a coachwhip show up a few weeks ago it was very exciting to see, but then we worried that it would start taking the lizards that we watch daily in the yard.
I agree. At first the narrow sideburn and overall pale look had me learning to Prairie Falcon, I checked in my Wheeler and Clark Photographic Guide to North American Raptors. Image P05 on page 151 is a good fit and is noted as "Juvenile Tundra Peregrine. Juveniles are heavily streaked on underparts. Note pale head and narrow mustache of Tundra juvenile."
i think i too would have felt emotionally attached