A day for speed.

And what better icon for speed than the famous Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)?
These birds can clock 320+ km/h in their dives, and they are reckoned as the fastest birds in the world.

I heard that famous cry and hopped around to a tree where I got one before.

But today was different, as there were two. A parent and a youngster. The photo above was the youngster.

But don't take my word for their speed, as see the link below;

The peregrine falcon is the fastest aerial animal, fastest animal in flight, fastest bird, and the overall fastest member of the animal kingdom. The peregrine achieves its highest velocity not in horizontal level flight, but during its characteristic hunting stoop (vertical flight). While stooping, the peregrine falcon soars to a great height, then dives steeply at speeds of over 320 km/h (200 mph).
Assuming the maximum size at 58 cm, its relative speed clocks at 186 body lengths per second during its hunting swoop, the equivalent of a human running at 170 m/s (560 ft/s).

Source

No human can run at 170 meters per second :)

I wanted to show you what a good zoom can do with no tripod and free hand shooting. The peregrines were sitting at the top of that tree in the yellow circle.

As I said, there were two and here below you can see the youngster at the top and the parent below. First time that I could get two of them on camera.

Let's focus on the one that was sitting lower down, as I liked how the sun was lighting its feathers.

Then it decided to move over to another spot.

Beautiful isn't it?

Finally, the youngster at the top gave me the best view of them taking off and in a flash they were gone.

No way that I was going to get them in flight, as they were too fast, but I was quite happy with what I got.

Then as I walked back, someone that also watched the show called out to me.

Hey Zac, the caller shouted; I am on the actifit program on #hive and soon, I will beat those peregrines in flight. :)
Hi Abe, I said, you will first have to learn how to stop screaming when you find yourself in the air.

The local joke is that Hadeda Ibis birds start screaming in fear when they find themselves suddenly in flight :)

A bit of humor is good for us all and I cannot tell you how delighted I was to get not the normal one, but two peregrines on camera. Soon that youngster will be an adult and then it will take off on its own. I am glad to see that it endures this cold winter, and it will be all the stronger when the summer season starts. Peregrines have fantastic eyesight, and they can spot a small rodent from miles up in the sky.
Some real fabulous birds.

I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and the story.

And That's All Friends.

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.

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