Urban peregrines 3

In all I made about half a dozen trips to see these peregrines, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. By 9 a.m. the light was bright and contrasty so the time frame for snapping was limited to the first couple of hours after dawn, and of course there is no means to put the birds where you want them.  Bird seed of no help here.

I had some idea of the shots I'd like but getting something beyond a straight snap wasn't easy.

Ideally it would show a bit of behaviour - post-preen shake; flying with prey; landing with prey, already into a mantling posture; wiping the beak clean, a regular event after a feed; setting off on a hunt .......

 

 

This was maybe my favourite of the bird on a stick shots, even if it does resemble a raptor on a toilet cistern.  I just like the urban decay element and the dappled light. Looks better in a bigger size.

For flight shots I really wanted to show the urban environment, but the birds rarely came low so chances were few and I didn't really like any of the ones I got with buildings in the background.  The best were this couple with the cranes, although both needed cropping to cut out intrusive elements.

So, good fun, but no prize-winners.  However that wasn't the end of my urban peregrine 'project' for the summer, even if there still weren't any prize-winners to come!