Jack Zhi (USA) enjoys watching a young falcon practising its hunting skills on a butterfly, above its sea-cliff nest.
Jack has been visiting this area for the past eight years, observing the constant presence of one of the birds and photographing the chicks. On this day it was a challenge to track the action because the birds were so fast.
For Editor, Writer and Competition Judge Roz Kidman Cox, this is a “joyful, stupendous shot. The young peregrine is perfection in plumage and pose, and the play-hunting butterfly moment is an extraordinary catch. But this is no chance shot, rather a picture framed by an artist intimate with falcons.”
On this occasion, the young peregrine caught the insect before releasing it and repeating the behaviour all over again.
The butterfly phase didn’t last long. After a few more days, the falcons started chasing more challenging targets – gulls, pelicans and other birds that passed through their territory.
In tests, some peregrine falcons have reached speeds greater than 300 kilometres per hour (186 miles per hour) while diving on their prey.
USA
Jack is a solution architect working in the cloud computing space. He’s been photographing birds for seven years. After moving to California from the Midwest, he found the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, which soon became his own sanctuary. He found himself taking walks there all the time. Seeing so many beautiful birds, it wasn’t long before he picked up a camera and started to photograph these amazing creatures.
Help us harness the power of photography to advance scientific knowledge, spread awareness of important issues and nurture a global love for nature.
