Insatiable

[Gabriela Plesea]

What is a Story Sequence ? A series of images and sometimes a bit of text to go with, should you feel your narrative needs it. I wanted a sense of continuity here and despite having over a thousand images to choose from, I still could not find it. But I wanted to show you the many theatrical faces of this bird whom I followed relentlessly with the camera, trying to imprison its movements and capture the mood of intolerable suspense at the time of this sighting.


I admit I hardly knew what I was doing with my Nikon at the time… still cannot believe how much one can learn in just a year or two - amazing are the workings of human will… The images themselves were not disappointing, despite the setting of the scene. The Lanner was at first on the ground and at the time I aimed the lens at him he was busy swallowing the feet of the dove, later he flew off to a tree nearby with the last morsel -this was quite challenging for me at the time, for the light was coming in from behind the subject. There was no time to “orchestrate” those shots, things happened fast and in all truth we drove past the Lanner unaware of his presence. It was I who spotted him seconds later…something caught my eye and I stuck my head out of the window, realising I was witnessing the very last moments of this event, the quick and quiet death of a dove whose remains were being devoured by the Lanner Falcon.


In literature one should pace things out, frame by frame…build up the climax at the close - this is how stories are made. Instead, I am going to give you a simple visual experience, a sequence of expressions I captured as the body of the dove was quickly dissolving into the hungry Lanner. The sight of blood, or the dove's feet disappearing into the Falcon's beak - I hope - will not put you off, I honestly believe there was little suffering on the part of the victim, since the Terminator/Falcon only meant to satisfy his hunger and by no means intended to torture his victim.


This is not the best example of a Story Sequence, for my sentences - or rather, images - are brief… not much action either, but what I want is to give you a lasting impression of this “Little Terrorist” as I like to think of the Lanner Falcon. He was not put off by the Landrover driving past him or by the noise our cameras made, all he was worried about was the presence of a nearby Tawny Eagle and my next Story Sequence will show you why…