PEREGRINE FALCON / VANDREFALK

Bringing in a Wood sandpiper prey (grønnstilk), defeathered & decapitated

Nikon D5, 600/4,0 + 1,4 conv. = 850 mm, f/6,3, 1/3200, ISO 7200, manuel prefocus

SOMEWHERE IN FINLAND, JULY 2nd TO JULY 17th, 2021 :

Site : This project has been planned for almost 4 years, but not implemented until now because lack of official permission, irregularities in breeding habits and of course the pandemy. Now finally I had the chance and over 2 weeks in early July I spent all together 170 hours in a small tented hide in an open Finnish marshland with the nesting site on the ground (as you normally will find them at the eastern taiga). The timing happened to correspond with a serious eastern heatwave with outside temperatures up to 30 - 31 degrees. Temperature inside hide : almost unbearable ! 

Nestphotography : Of course this photography is done in close proximity to the nesting site. However I'm not a big fan of nest photography, so my focus was more to do flights than the traditional nest shots. Personally I do not want to show pictures with nestlings or nest visible (no big discussion this time please, its just the way I feel about it). My presence at the nest site was done with sustainable manners and done under license of Finnish wildlife authorities.

Shooting : When it comes to flight-pictures remember that the peregrine is the fastest flying bird on the planet with max speed in dives up to 300 km/h !! In-flights to the nesting site were completely unpredictable, with little wind in-flights could come from any direction, neither chicks nor adult birds gave any warning signs or signals and sometimes with up to 5 - 6 hours wait between each feeding. In most of these situations autofocus was completely impossible .... at least with my focusing skills !! ... so my technique with in-flights would be to manually prefocus on an airspace where I hoped the birds would fly through, and shoot both cameras simultanously (800 mm & 850 mm lenses) with one cable release in each hand. To freeze the rapid movements and to get the bird within the limited depth of sharpness I needed fast shutter speeds & relatively small apertures. The price to pay was of course higher ISO values.     

A difficult start : Finnair delayed my checked in luggage for 3 full days (!!) and I had to work first 3 days & nights with reduced photo gear. Then I ran into a window at the airport that I thought was an open door ! Full force !! ... and got badly beaten up .... and finally, as I sat down behind my cameras in the hide for the first time, I had a heavy crick (lumbago thing !) in my back ... and both sitting up and laying down was seriously painful ... and still is ! :-) 

Hope you like the pictures !!!

 

Marsh area with the tented hide ... and nest site to the left under tree

Wood sandpipers (grønntilk) were a common prey

Nikon D5, 600/4,0 + 1,4 conv. = 850 mm, f/9,0, 1/3200, ISO 3200, manuel prefocus

Nikon D5, 400/2,8 + 2,0 conv. = 800 mm, f/6,3, 1/2500, ISO 2800, manuel prefocus

Nikon D5, 600/4,0 + 1,4 conv. = 850 mm, f/6,3, 1/3200, ISO 2500

Nikon D5, 600/4,0, f/5,6, 1/3200, ISO 2000

Bringing in another Wood sandpiper (grønntilk)

Nikon D5, 600/4,0 + 1,4 conv. = 850 mm, f/6,3, 1/3200, ISO 7200, manuel prefocus

Nikon D5, 600/4,0 + 1,4 conv. = 850 mm, f/6,3, 1/3200, ISO 1600

Bringing in a Wood sandpiper (grønntilk)

                             Nikon D5, 600/4,0, f/4,0, 1/2500, ISO 720, manuel prefocus

Nikon D5, 600/4,0 + 1,4 conv. = 850 mm, f/6,3, 1/2500, ISO 3200, manuel prefocus

               Nikon D5, 600/4,0 + 1,4 conv. = 850 mm, f/6,3, 1/2500, ISO 3200, manuel prefocus

                                Nikon D5, 600/4,0, f/4,5, 1/2500, ISO 3200

                                   Female bird in noisy communication with the male.

                      Nikon D5, 600/4,0 + 1,4 conv. = 850 mm, f/6,3, 1/3200, ISO 3600, manuel prefocus.

                                            Nikon D5, 600/4,0, f/6,3, 1/3200, ISO 2500

                                   Nikon D5, 600/4,0 + 1,4 conv. = 850 mm, f/6,3, 1/2500, ISO 3200

                  Nikon D5, 400/2,8 + 2,0 conv. = 800 mm, f/6,3, 1/2500, ISO 5600, manuel prefocus

                                       Nikon D5, 600/4,0, f/4,5, 1/2500, ISO 2800

 With outside temperatures around 30 - 31 degrees warm & no wind the inside temp raised to almost unbearable ! Compensating by having a wet cloth over head !