A dragonfly in the hand is better than two in the bush
One the same day as this shot (flickr.com/photos/115540984@N02/53962995818/in/dateposted), I went to Soesterberg airport. I had never seen an Eurasian Hobby before (I thought), and since they were seen quite frequently there I thought it would be a good idea to photograph something different than hovering kestrels, or kestrels on a post.
After a few hours of fruitless birdwatching (it was bird cucumber time anyway) I packed up and headed home, disappointed, when I suddenly saw three falcons at the next part of the airport (the gliding runway). Of course kestrels again was my first thought because there was one hanging there praying, but just to be on the safe side I chose one of the other two.
So that wasn't a kestrel!!! There were at least three Eurasian Hobbies(?) busy hunting dragonflies above the field. With incredible agility, they grab the dragonflies with their legs in full flight and nibble the dragonflies to the afterlife as they fly. I spent about 45 minutes looking and taking pictures, but it was not easy to keep them in the viewfinder.
When I got home, it turned out that they were indeed Eurasian Hobbies, but also the sobering experience that I had already captured them for a long time.
What I often mistook for peregrine falcons had generally been Eurasian Hobbies. Even more sobering was that even a blind horse could have told the difference between a Eurasian Hobby and a peregrine falcon. Learned something again.
What remains is the conclusion that I now have to hunt for peregrine falcons, because I hardly have a good photo of them..
A dragonfly in the hand is better than two in the bush
One the same day as this shot (flickr.com/photos/115540984@N02/53962995818/in/dateposted), I went to Soesterberg airport. I had never seen an Eurasian Hobby before (I thought), and since they were seen quite frequently there I thought it would be a good idea to photograph something different than hovering kestrels, or kestrels on a post.
After a few hours of fruitless birdwatching (it was bird cucumber time anyway) I packed up and headed home, disappointed, when I suddenly saw three falcons at the next part of the airport (the gliding runway). Of course kestrels again was my first thought because there was one hanging there praying, but just to be on the safe side I chose one of the other two.
So that wasn't a kestrel!!! There were at least three Eurasian Hobbies(?) busy hunting dragonflies above the field. With incredible agility, they grab the dragonflies with their legs in full flight and nibble the dragonflies to the afterlife as they fly. I spent about 45 minutes looking and taking pictures, but it was not easy to keep them in the viewfinder.
When I got home, it turned out that they were indeed Eurasian Hobbies, but also the sobering experience that I had already captured them for a long time.
What I often mistook for peregrine falcons had generally been Eurasian Hobbies. Even more sobering was that even a blind horse could have told the difference between a Eurasian Hobby and a peregrine falcon. Learned something again.
What remains is the conclusion that I now have to hunt for peregrine falcons, because I hardly have a good photo of them..