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Thread: Australian( Macropus)Peregrine

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    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Default Australian( Macropus)Peregrine

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    Here is another one from my great trip to Australia.
    This is my favorite image of the whole trip and one of my favorite peregrine images of all time. I have tried for many years to get a peregrine falcon up close, in good light, and in a full tucked up stoop. It is very hard because first off they are hauling butt even before they stoop, and then once they folder wings to stoop, they are usually dropping and picking up a dramatic amount of speed. This is usually the time they shoot out of your viewfinder like a rocket.
    The story of this image is pretty funny.
    I called an old-time BPN member, Ofer Levey in Sydney Australia to see if he had any tips for me in the way of bird spots. He was very cordial and gave me some spots to look for parrots and shorebirds. He also mentioned a peregrine nest site that he knew of. The baby's had fledged a few weeks earlier and he invited me to meet him there one afternoon.
    I was pretty excited but when I called him he said he had problems and could not meet me. He did mention that he had a friend that was going to meet me there and show me the location on the cliffside. I met his friend in the parking lot and the weather was sunny but very very windy. Probably 25 to 40 mph. His friend was pretty bummed out as he has been there many times and figured we were going to get blown out due to the wind. I told him that in my area, and in my dealings with peregrines throughout my life, they love the wind and are usually more active in the wind. It's like free energy for them. Harriers are the same way.
    So we hiked out to the beautiful cliffside location with the colorful southern ocean below and within a few minutes I saw the adult male flyby. Man is He is gorgeous!! 10 minutes later and it was an all out dog fight with four peregrines in the air in front of us all afternoon. It was unbelievable!! I shot 2500 frames that afternoon.
    His friend could not believe it and he had been going there for years and it was the most active he is ever seen it. It was so windy that it was grabbing my lens hood and I could barely track the falcons so a few minutes into the shoot I took off my hood and threw it on the ground. Made it much better.
    Needless to say I got lots of beautiful peregrine frames with different poses and even got ones with prey in their feet. I will share them with you in the near future. This is one of the eyeses, babies. She started her stoop in the perfect spot and I was lucky enough to track her for literally 2 seconds before she shot by me. I figured she was easily going 100mph!!
    Macropus Peregrines are one of the most sought after in falconry for their beautiful full dark helmet and their unique stripped pattern on their chest. This Juve doesn't have the adult pattern yet but it sure had a dark head already. She will be awesome her second season. Also notice the Alula feathers extended to act as small ailerons for control as she burns through the sky. Hope you like her.

    D5---850mm---f6.3---ss1/4000th---ISO800---Handheld@6:40pm---40% crop

    Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it.
    Last edited by David Salem; 02-27-2019 at 05:22 AM.
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    Look like a flying bullet. Killer as always.

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    Great image David! I like the bullet pose, IQ, clarity and composition. Look forward to seeing more from your afternoon session.

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    Sick, disgusting, just flippin fantastic Dave and an experience you'll never forget!!! Wow dude, what a screamin image. The head helmet is bursting with detail. And thanks for the alula feathers, i don't think even George Jetson had those. rockin rompin Rock Star!

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    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Thanks so much everyone!!

    I also forgot to give Ofer a big thank you for catering me to this fantastic spot!!
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    Wow, David.... this is also worthy of Ofer.
    Dan Kearl

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    awesome frame Dave, glad it worked out for you
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    The technical and hand holding abilities needed to photograph this peregrine at 100km/hr just blows me away.
    It is so freakin' sharp. The details in the head are so good.
    I am impressed!
    So glad Ofer could help you-he is a good guy/great photographer and I miss his participation at BPN,
    Gail

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    This image really blew me away! Never seen a peregrine in that pose with this IQ. I thought about Ofer as soon as I saw the thumbnail. What a great location that must be! But I also understand the skill required to capture these fast birds.
    Everything looks spot on to me exept that the nearest foot might need to be darkened just a tad?

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    Obviously spectacular and killer sharp. Too bad you did not have your Canon gear with you. What happened to the wings??? Good catch by Ivan on the light foot. Next time you speak to Ofer be sure to send him my love.

    with love, artie
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ivan Sjogren View Post
    This image really blew me away! Never seen a peregrine in that pose with this IQ. I thought about Ofer as soon as I saw the thumbnail. What a great location that must be! But I also understand the skill required to capture these fast birds.
    Everything looks spot on to me exept that the nearest foot might need to be darkened just a tad?
    Thanks again everyone!!

    Ivan, Yes I did reduce the brightness on that foot but I think it got a little brighter when I downsized it. Easy fix and thanks for keeping an eye out.
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    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    Obviously spectacular and killer sharp. Too bad you did not have your Canon gear with you. What happened to the wings??? Good catch by Ivan on the light foot. Next time you speak to Ofer be sure to send him my love.

    with love, artie
    Thanks Artie,

    Sure Glad I didn't have my Canon gear because this was a AF nightmare for most systems. Even the Nikon system struggled a bit as it was fast and furious shooting.

    Not sure if you were serious about where the wings are, but if you were, they are tucked up and crossed at the tips into a tight pose called a stoop. This is when a falcon really picks up tons of speed and is when they are able to gain speeds in exsess of 200mph. You can see the primaries of the right wing poking out and the alula helping to control the bird while it is stooping.
    A shot I have been wanting for years.

    I will tell him you said Hi

    Thanks
    Last edited by David Salem; 02-27-2019 at 11:11 AM.
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    Hi David. Inspirational as always. There's a falconry in Ballarat, (around 116km from Melbourne)...I'm planning a visit this year. http://www.fullflight.com.au
    Care to divulge the location in Sydney? Cheers.

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    Simply a killer frame David, all been said already, glad you got your target shot

    Mike

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    Quote Originally Posted by David Salem View Post
    Thanks Artie,

    Sure Glad I didn't have my Canon gear because this was a AF nightmare for most systems. Even the Nikon system struggled a bit as it was fast and furious shooting.

    Not sure if you were serious about where the wings are, but if you were, they are tucked up and crossed at the tips into a tight pose called a stoop. This is when a falcon really picks up tons of speed and is when they are able to gain speeds in exsess of 200mph. You can see the primaries of the right wing poking out and the alula helping to control the bird while it is stooping.
    A shot I have been wanting for years.

    I will tell him you said Hi

    Thanks
    Yo Dude. Was not serious :)

    a
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

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    But that brings to mind the question -- I had always assumed that they would be either perpendicular to the ground or close it. Is that correct? It would seem that they would need gravity to get anywhere near 200mph but this bird is only on a 15 degree downward angle ...

    with love, artie
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










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    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul Burdett View Post
    Hi David. Inspirational as always. There's a falconry in Ballarat, (around 116km from Melbourne)...I'm planning a visit this year. http://www.fullflight.com.au
    Care to divulge the location in Sydney? Cheers.
    Thanks Paul!!

    If you ever get to the states, look me up and I am always happy to steer my BPN photography friends in the right direction, but as far as giving up a secret spot that I was reluctantly shown and taken to, wouldn't be something I would do.
    Anything of mine is all yours
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    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    But that brings to mind the question -- I had always assumed that they would be either perpendicular to the ground or close it. Is that correct? It would seem that they would need gravity to get anywhere near 200mph but this bird is only on a 15 degree downward angle ...

    with love, artie
    He Artie,
    You are totally correct.
    A peregrine needs to stoop almost dead vertical to obtain speeds of anywhere near 200mph. It also takes quite a few seconds of this high speed falling to get up to terminal velocity.
    I know you don't read my long narratives much but I mentioned in the post that this bird might have been doing somewhere about 100mph as she stopped in an angle.
    When we hunt our trained falcons we want them dead overhead and way the f#$$ up there before we flush the quarry. That way we can see the awesome speed and sound of the high speed vertical stoop.

    Thanks as always
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    Hi David: No problem...I understand.

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    Wow that's an incredible shot David! I've photographed peregrine adults and juveniles in stoops quite a few times but never managed to capture this kind of detail and razor sharp clarity on the eye at that speed!

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    Wonderful shot Dave. Details on the feathers are sharp along with the story. I looked at this a few weeks back and have always had a love for Peregrines.What a small world we live in. This past week I was in the Ne sandhills scouting greater Chicken Leks. I had my friend with me and he was telling me he had a friend that had Beta videos back in the day of lesser Chickens. My friend doesn't go to Kansas because of the decline of lesser chickens
    Then he goes on and mentions your name. I said I know this guy he posts some great Photos. Anyways Tricky Dick says Hi.

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