Peregrine attack

[Ivan Ellison]

A nice bright day for a change and I made the most of it at Martin mere WWT reserve, Southport, Lancs
Plenty of raptors around.This juv peregrine and her mum didn't like the common buzzard sat nearby and had a go at it twice. The action is very fast as I am sure you can appreciate , I managed to track this bird as it came in and got a few images that are fairly sharp. Distance was approx 70/80 m's away, so quite a big crop. I have done another version in the portrait style - see on Flickr- not sure which is best.
Very little done apart from sharpening the birds and blur to the BG, a slight tweak on the exposure and a little shadow lift.
Canon 1D mkIV,
Canon 500 f4 is + 1.4 conv
ISO 640
1/2000 sec
f 5.6

[Randy Stout]

Ivan:

Strong interaction here, and even though you can't see the buzzards face, the focus is clear.

Always a challenge getting two different birds in focus during this type of shot. The buzzard looks quite sharp, the falcon a bit less so.

Well exposed. I think a crop from the right would help (and probably what you did in the other version). Main concern will be if the IQ will hold up.

Are these free birds? I don't know the setup in the UK.

Cheers

Randy

[Ivan Ellison]

Cheers Randy, due to the distance I don't think the IQ will hold out. Yes they are free totally wild birds that hunt over the reserve.The WWT is a charity that has several wetland reserves around the UK , it was founded by Sir Peter Scott. Most of the reserves are important wintering areas for wildfowl. Martin Mere has approx 1700 whooper swans and upto 30,000 pink footed geese each winter.

[Randy Stout]

Ivan:

Thanks for the info, sounds like a great resource. Now if the sun would only come out a bit more!

Cheers

Randy

[gail bisson]

Wonderful action shot Ivan.
Well done to get both birds sharp.
Just wish we could see the buzzards face.
Gail