Finally home safe and sound... The day before flying back to Thailand I went to Minami-Suga to have dinner and I spotted a
Peregrine Falcon (
Falco peregrinus) swifting through the stormy weather chasing the swallows. I was so happy because it's the first time for me to see a Peregrine in downtown Beppu. The bird should be using one of the tall buildings as its roost. Too bad it was already too dark for me to get any shot of the bird, so here I put some older shots I took few years back in Thailand. Although the main subspecies of Peregrine Falcon in Japan is
F.p.japonensis, the photos here show a different subspecies,
F.p.peregrinator, which has reddish underparts, darker upperwing coverts and black cheeks. I've yet to get any decent shot of
F.p.japonensis, so there's no other choice for me. The bird in the picture was eating an unidentifiable bird on a tall electric pole by the roadside. I was shooting from a car's window, so the bird wasn't so much aware of my existence.
4 comments:
Brilliant shots. I see what you see about the darker upperparts, much darker than our own too - nominate peregrinus.
Thanks Phil!
I've never seen a peregrinus before, but from the internet it seems like the subspecies is pretty similar to japonensis of Japan.
The markings of the Falcon are beautiful! Did you manage to see it diving?
I would love to see that Ryou.
But too bad I came across when it already had the prey.
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