And yet again, I have to warn sensitive souls not to view this.
In my previous Peregrine post that you can see HERE, I said that I had another post to do about the Peregrine, and this time he had a bigger bird as prey. I think that it was one of the racing pigeons that the falcon struck in his speedy dive. He normally circles very high up in the sky so that the flyers below cannot spot him, and then he dives down to grab one of them.
As usual, the falcon then sits high up in a very high tree with his prey and he commences to strip the feathers off from the dead bird that he caught. All of this happens in seconds until he sits in the tree, as then he takes his time to clean his prey. That delivers an opportunity for me to get shots of him on my zoom. I think that the falcon is getting used to me, and he must know that I present no danger to him, as the distance is too great. So now he just ignores my presence below, and I am happy with that, as it gives me time to snap him in action.
Yep, a feather was flying behind him as he stripped the bird. 3 shots below including this one of him cleaning the bird, and then it was time for him to start eating.
And like I said above, 2 shots below of him eating.
I do not want to show you the rest of his eating process, as it gets very messy, and it's not very nice to see.
After the falcon has eaten enough, then he simply drops the carcass down to land below the tree, and I can tell you that the carcass does not go to waste as other meat-eating predators strip the carcass clean. Even the bones are eaten, and the small bits of waste are food for the ants. That is just the way that nature works to feed its residents. The reason why I like the Peregrine Falcon, is because it holds the record for being the fastest diving bird in the world.
Not only that, but I also adore its hunting skills. No need for weapons, and just raw natural power and it uses its talents to the extreme. Some birders also keep the peregrine falcons as pets, and they train them to catch birds that destroy their crops. I can understand that, as no bird will come near if they know there is a peregrine falcon around. However, I will never keep one as a pet as I believe that the wild belongs in the wild. But that is only my way of looking at things.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
Until next time, cheers!
