Saturday, June 27, 2009

The Peregrines of Niagara Falls


What an amazing sight! Two of the worlds wonders at one place! Last summer there was a real amazing sight here on the Niagara Peninsula... 2 adult Peregrine Falcons nested in the gorge, and had 4 chicks.

Thanks to a tip from my friend Brandon Holden, I found myself hanging over the railing looking down at the rivers edge and the cliffs for many hours. I believe I was there 14 times, and fired over 5,000 images of the falcons.

There were days when the action was unbelievable! The young birds would fly everywhere, fighting for food, or just practicing flight maneuvers for later hunting opportunities.

This image attached (click on it to view full size) has an interesting story that goes with it... this adult bird lifted off the cliff and made a run to my right almost right to the falls. It was well above the falls when it stopped, and turned, got into a stoop, and did a dive coming right for me!!

I was able to lock on focus and began firing the shutter as it approached... but the interesting thing was I could not keep up with the bird while looking through the viewfinder as it crossed my view... flying at probably 50 mph. I actually let the camera release from my face and tracked the bird with my arms extended away from me.. and was sooo lucky that the bird was in the frame, and was in focus!

The shot is about 75% of full frame, with slight exposure and contrast / sharpening changes.

For more images of my Peregrine experience, just Click Here!

Comments welcome, and have a good weekend.

3 comments:

  1. As usual...simply AMAZING, Ray! I've been a fan for some time, particularly since we share a mutual appreciation for our 200-400 Nikors. I just spent the evening reading every post on the new Blog. Well done and keep it up!

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  2. thanks so much Chris., I do look forward to checking out your blog when I have some time.. been a long day today! It has been a while since I visited Charleston SC., but what a great place!! I hope one day I have a chance to return.

    take care..

    ps.. superb website!

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  3. It was a great time in last July. I'm looking forward to hearing any news about them and go there and have some more fun this year. Your Peregrine shots are great Ray.

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Thanks for posting a comment.. ray@raymondbarlow.com