In the Blink of an Eye ....

Description

A Peregrine Falcon comes out of nowhere and arrives on the scene. The scene is thousands of semipalmated sandpipers. The raptor's m mission is to cull one out the flock. Despite the Peregine's impressive speed, it is not an easy task. Their shorebird prey have a ton of tricks up their wing sleeves and are always up to the task being chased. For example, sandpipers can angle/turn much sharper than a falcon analagous to sports car vs an 18-wheeler -and that can make or break an attack. Also, notice in the image that one sandpiper's wing is protruding from the ocean. It has not been struck but has performed a ditch. Ditching is a tactic that is used when the falcon is too close for comfort and death imminent - so they cut their forward motion and plunge into the water - allowing their predator to overshoot them ... and then escape in the other direction.

Taken By

Derek Grant

Taken On

September 21, 2024

Tagged

raptors predation shorebirds sandpipers wings falconry bird falconidae falco peregrinus animal flying accipiter kite_bird buzzard hawk water accipitridae falcon body_of_water falconiformes beak