This was one cool little raptor that was in no mood to pose for pictures. Horus is a retired breeding falcon that now is an ambassador for Nature’s Educators, a non-profit wildlife education group.

She was quite entertaining as she posed on some rocks and constantly spread her wings making it clear that she would rather be flying that posing for pictures. I can’t say I blame her!

One of the most spectacular and ferocious raptors, Peregrine Falcons are nothing short of amazing. They oftentimes hunt from on high, diving to the ground toward their prey at speeds up to 200 mph!

I once again ran across this cool raptor recently and again, he did not want to give me any flight shots. He did however at least give me this backlit launch. Someday I will convince it to let me get ‘the shot’ of it in flight. 😉

One of the most spectacular and ferocious raptors, Peregrine Falcons are nothing short of amazing. They oftentimes hunt from on high, diving to the ground toward their prey at speeds up to 200 mph!

Taken in Adams County, Colorado.

It had been a couple months since I had seen this Peregrine Falcon. Over the last couple of winters, I and other photographers have spotted it a few times in the area near Denver International Airport. This area is not one you would expect to find this fast-moving raptor in but it seems to have taken to life on the flat, hot plains just fine.

In the past it refused to pose for pictures and on rare occasion would come close enough in flight to grab a few, fleeting captures. Twice over the past couple of weeks I have seen it hanging out on a particular pole and both times it was more than willing to let me get my fill of shots of it while it kept watch. Naturally though, the second I tried to get closer, it bolted and always in a direction that prevented a flight shot.

One of the most spectacular and ferocious raptors, Peregrine Falcons are nothing short of amazing. They oftentimes hunt from on high, diving to the ground toward their prey at speeds up to 200 mph!

I share these images not because of their quality (it certainly is not great) but rather because of the subject matter.

While out patrolling familiar photo grounds northeast of Denver yesterday, I was getting many pictures of the usual menagerie of hawks, owls and other birds. Near a prairie dog colony, I spotted an unusually colored bird swooping low over the rodents’ homes sending the little critters into a panic. I quickly flipped a u-turn, pulled over, and snapped a couple of quick pictures of the raptor is it passed fast and low above the ground well off in the distance.

Playing back the image on my camera I was delighted to see I had captured images of a ?Peregrine? ?Falcon? – something not often seen on the plains. I headed off in the direction the falcon went but unfortunately was unable to get another picture of it. I do wish the images were of better quality but am pleased as punch to have gotten what I did of a cool bird in an unusual location.

Closing out the workweek is a shot of an absolutely gorgeous Peregrine Falcon taken last week at Yellowstone National Park.

Peregrine’s can be found just about anywhere on the globe. Here in North America, much like other raptors, the bird was threatened by pesticides in the 20th century but is making an incredible comeback now.

This particular Peregrine Falcon was not in the wild (although they do reside in Yellowstone) but rather belonged to a falconer that happened to be staying in the campground I was in. The man was kind enough to let me snap off bunches of pictures of this bird (Merlin) as well as two others he owned.