Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
After a busy weekend and a crazy Tuesday, I am a bit late posting an image for the day so I was randomly clicking through images and came across this one I hadn’t shared.
Taken back on St Patrick’s Day, this cool – but ferocious – little raptor was staking out a field near Brighton Colorado.
As is typical for prairie falcons, it wasn’t too inclined to pose but did give me a few nice shots before heading off to hunt without the prying eyes of a photographer nearby.
It’s been a while since I had gotten decent pics of these awesome, little raptors. In recent weeks I had seen quite a few but was not having much luck getting pics. Then, last week, I happened across this gorgeous specimen as it hung out on a pole keeping watch on a nearby field.
It was quite willing to pose for pictures for me and in fact, was too patient. I sat and waited and waited and waited for it to take flight but it never did, choosing to sit and watch me. With winter here, I am hopeful I will get some changes at flight shots soon.
There’s a few P’s for you with an F thrown in for good measure. 😉
This winter I haven’t had as much like photographing these fantastic raptors as in year’s past. On Wednesday though, I happened across one that was kind enough to perch itself right next to the road. It was largely unbothered by my presence and sat still long enough for me to grab these captures.
These cool raptors can be found flying low to the ground searching for prey. They are extraordinarily maneuverable and very difficult to catch pics of in-flight although I have on occasion had some good luck. Prairie Falcons are not particular about their diet and will feed on smaller birds including larks, swallows and doves and will also feed on rodents including squirrels.
I couldn’t help but feel for this little one as it sat perched with snow and frost on its face and wings as it looked for a meal out the plains of Colorado this morning.
Not a particularly productive photo day for me as the weather seemed to have many of the critters hunkering down. I can’t say I blame them as the temperature was only in the teens when I was out there.
I reckon I will console my poor outing with a nice, not toddy. 😉 Stay warm out there!
Normally I have pretty good luck getting pics of these ferocious raptors but this season they have been less than kind to me for some reason. Thankfully this Prairie Falcon took some mercy on me and gave me a nice departing capture, albeit with some cruddy lighting and skies.
These cool raptors can be found flying low to the ground searching for prey. They are extraordinarily maneuverable and very difficult to catch pics of in-flight although I have on occasion had some good luck. Prairie Falcons are not particular about their diet and will feed on smaller birds including larks, swallows and doves and will also feed on rodents including squirrels.
I thought my photo day was done and had pointed my truck for home. About halfway there, I see a flurry of activity on a utility pole ahead and slow to take a closer look. Much to my delight I find a Prairie Falcon that had just snagged a Western Meadowlark and was preparing to dine on it.
The falcon wasn’t particularly comfortable with me being there but was hungry enough to tolerate my presence. Prairie Falcons are not very big but just as ferocious as any raptor, preferring to dine on smaller birds, oftentimes diving right into flocks and snatching their prey.
Scroll down to view the complete gallery.
These raptors are extraordinary hunters, capable of snatching their preferred prey of smaller birds right out of the air. Larks, swallows and even doves can fall victim to the fast-moving, ferocious falcon.
One of these little birds became this particular falcon’s breakfast recently. I missed the actual kill but was able to capture some images of it as it quickly devoured its victim. Pretty fun stuff and a good example of predator and prey in nature.
Scroll down to view all the images from the encounter.
With temperatures only in the teens, the weather early Saturday morning was not overly pleasant. My heart was quickly warmed though by spotting this awesome little raptor, only the second Prairie Falcon I have seen thus far this season and the first one to let me get a half-way decent picture of it. Certainly there will be many more opportunities in the coming months as they stake their claim to their winter grounds on the Colorado plains.
These cool raptors can be found flying low to the ground searching for prey. They are extraordinarily maneuverable and very difficult to catch pics of in-flight although I have on occasion had some good luck. Prairie Falcons are not particular about their diet and will feed on smaller birds including larks, swallows and doves and will also feed on rodents including squirrels.
On a very cold morning this past January, a thick hoar frost covered the plains northeast of Denver. The seemingly warm, blue skies belied just how cold it was out there; conditions not fit for man or beast you might say.
Normally very active raptors, this little Prairie Falcon didn’t seem too keen to take to the skies in the cold. In fact, it was perfectly willing to pose for me as it sat perched on a frost-covered pole.
These cool raptors can be found flying low to the ground searching for prey. They are extraordinarily maneuverable and very difficult to catch pics of in-flight although I have on occasion had some good luck. Prairie Falcons are not particular about their diet and will feed on smaller birds including larks, swallows and doves and will also feed on rodents including squirrels.
This little raptor provided me tons of entertainment over the winter and bunches of photo opportunities.
On this day the skies were gray and colorless so using a trick a fellow photographer taught me, I overexposed the picture a bit to create a ‘high key’ effect – making those gray skies turn white and really setting the subject off from them. I problem should have taken it up a bit brighter but it looks pretty good like this.
Taken February 6th in Adams County, Colorado.
