Predator

[Sanjeevprakash]

I was @ Nickerson Beach Yesterday Morning.As usual the beach was crowded, but the twist was it was it were the skimmers that had crowded on the Beach.The Skimmers were busy getting fishes for the Juveniles. There was an instance were all the skimmers took off without any provocation and went about in a huge loop over the ocean.Meanwhile 2 of the juveniles were resting on the beach.All of a sudden a Peregrine Falcon swooped on one of them and started harassing it.Soon the Juvenile found itself in a battle of survival with an predator,to who it was no match.The falcon would swoop down swiftly with its claws open in an effort to grab the Juvi.As the falcon came closer to the juvenile,it would start flapping its wings vigorously and the falcon had to retreat.In the ensuing attacks by the falcon, the juvenile's left wing was deeply cut by the falcons talons. In-spite of its injuries the Juvenile resisted the falcon with its other wing.This went on for about 5 minutes,at which point the adult skimmers came to notice the attacks by the falcon.The adults grouped together and eventually chased away the falcon.As for the juvenile,he was saved but with a badly bruised left wing.


This is my best shot so far ( as well in the series) and I was very Lucky to have been a witness to the raw behaviour of Nature


Nikon D300S, 300mm f 2.8 , 1/640s , f/ 5.6 , ISO-250 ,Manual Exposure,Matrix Metering, Tripod with Gimbal Head.

Comments & Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks

[Marina Scarr]

Tremendous action/behavior you have captured here. What a great albeit sad story. The inclusion of all the foam and waves makes it that much more interesting. Love the pose on the peregrine and the defenseless pose of the skimmer. I am seeing a yellow color cast. I would also darken the image slightly. Well done!

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image with nice composition.Great action captured.Love it.Rest is mentioned by Marina.

Regards,
Satish.

[Grace Scalzo]

Nature at its most raw, well captured. I agree with Marina's critique. Thank you for your narrative as well as the image.

[Sanjeevprakash]

Thank Marina,Satish & Grace.

Marina,I did increase a lil bit of vibrancy slider.Probably that might have increased the yellows.I'll check and reduce it.Thanks for pointing it out.Appreciate all of you'll feedback.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

OOohhh, I feel sorry for the juv. skimmer! but I´m glad it could survive. Nice story and picture to show, with your words, the raw behaviour of nature.

[christopher galeski]

nice action image,agree with Marina comments,well done.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Great story and very nice image to depict the action. I would selectively add a bit of contrast to the falcon.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Awesome story, I bet your heart is still beating a hundred miles per second!! I like the action alot, strong visuals. I think the darks could go darker a bit, and too bad the ISO wasn't higher for more SS as it looks like the falcon may have some subject movement blur (although very small at this small web posting size). Well though, and thanks for a great look at the ongoings Mother Nature has...