Lady Kestrel Earns Her Sparrowhawk Nickname (Warning: GRAPHIC)

[Doug Brown]

While photographing this beautiful Kestrel female with David Salem, a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew by clutching a meal in its talons. The Kestrel gave chase and the two raptors locked talons right in front of us and went spinning down behind a mound of earth. The Kestrel emerged victorious, brought the Savannah Sparrow back to our perch, and proceeded to devour it while we photographed her every move. It was an incredible thing to witness!

Canon 1Dx, 600mm II + 1.4x II, f/5.6, 1/1000, ISO 1000, manual exposure, beanbag, car as blind

[Steve Kaluski]

Very nice indeed Doug, well process as expected, a BKG to kill for.

TFS
Steve

[Bill Dix]

What a scene to witness! And what a spectacular image of the result. How nice of her to bring her prey back to show you, as some cats will do. I'm not sure I can tell it's a Savannah, but a great image.

[arash_hazeghi]

what a meal! another excellent shot of the Kestrel!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Wow talk about being at the right place at the right time!! What a fantastic opportunity, and it sure did not go to waste. Awesome image all around.

[Marina Scarr]

Wow, Doug, what a great opportunity, and you didn't miss a beat!! Great pose with the bird looking at you and just enough of the prey makes this image very impressive.

[Troy Lim]

Love it and the story makes it even better.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

What a sweet image, Doug. Right place at the right time, indeed. Subtly varied bg, head turn, comp, moment - all terrific.
Not much to crit here. All I can think of is to probably darken/clone the two cut off/lighter areas on the perch.

I wish I could photograph David's friendly kestrel too - she left the day I got there!!!

[David Salem]

That was a great afternoon with her and the sharpie and sparrow being taken was awesome. Glad you got to shoot her and the sparrow was a big bonus.
The techs are perfect. Even though we didnt have direct sunshine, we still got some very nice frames. Great job on the processing too.

[Frank Schauf]

Great scene and setting you have here.

[gail bisson]

WOW Doug!
This is off the charts good.
The behavior captured, the perfect HA and the way the feet of the prey stick out are "killer" ( pardon the pun)
BG is perfect and compliments the bird perfectly. Perch is just the right size.
10 out of 10 from me!
Gail

[shane shacaluga]

Great photo and thanks for sharing the story

i would have thought a kestrel had no chance against a sharp shinned hawk!

[Doug Brown]

Great photo and thanks for sharing the story

i would have thought a kestrel had no chance against a sharp shinned hawk!

Thanks Shane. I was thinking the same thing about the Kestrel's chances!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great exciting story Doug. Would love to have been there. You came thru with a killer image as well. The fact that the preys feet are sticking out as they are adds some great impact to the image IMO

[christopher galeski]

magic image,nice light perch and BG,the prey is a plus.TFS.

[Glenn Conlan]

And I stayed home that afternoon! Glad you and Dave were able to document that special moment.. Every things looks spot on. See you soon

Glenn

[Doug Brown]

Thanks for the feedback!

[Holger Leyrer]

Another great Image from this bird. Everything looks good
But i wish the perch don't touch the tail.