The Lanner Falcon is broadly speaking the African equivalent of the Prairie Falcon. Its a large and very successful species, being a catholic feeder that feeds both on mammals, birds and even insects at times. It has a much wider habitat tolerance than its smaller, more famous cousin, the Peregrine Falcon. In southern Africa, the Lanner Falcon outnumbers the Peregrine probably about tenfold, and although it does not have the same "sex appeal" as the latter, it is a spectacular aerial hunter in its own right. I photographed this sub-adult in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
Camera Model: NIKON D300
Shutter speed: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Av
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 1000
Lens: 200 to 400mm with 1.7X
Focal length: 550mm
Great pose, details and BG. The part of the perch covering the wing is a bit distracting. Thanks for sharing, I'm always happy to see different species.
Beautiful work as usual Chris. How did you persuade the lanner to pose on such a good perch? LOL. I've never had such a good sighting of any falcon in the Kalahari. I second Axel's comments although the part of the perch mentioned could also be construed as providing some balance to the composition!