The Kill

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Heart breaking subject Dave, but super captures..well done you.

 

Fantastic shots Dave, not pretty but that's survival.

 

Absolutely fabulous shots Dave.
Shame for the starling but the peregrine needs his dinner too.
That's nature, it's all around us and we too get our dinners.
Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

Dave, simply stuinning photography...third is the best IMO, well done you!!

Steve...

 

Wow, brill photos.

 

Brilliant, Dave! Lucky you to have been there at just the right moment to have caught this and thank you for sharing with us.

It's as Woo said - ".... part of Nature's food chain ..... but imperative to the survival of the species." This goes on all the time with all wild animals and if it didn't .............. We are at the top of our chain and we are lucky that someone else does the killing for us, or we'd all probably be vegetarians.

 

Yes I was lucky!
I've been trying to get a decent shot of a wild raptor for ages and this morning just as I stepped outside I heard squawks coming from the lawn on one side of the house. I peeped round and saw the sparrowhawk (male) with the starling. It saw me and winged it pdq. However it landed next door which gave me time to dash indoors, grab camera, change lens and peep over the 5' hedge. I shot off nearly 50 shots in burst mode before it saw me and flew off.
Just wish it had been brighter as even at ISO 4000 I couldn't really get a fast enough shutter to freeze some of the action.
Nevertheless I'm quite pleased with the shots. Thanks all for your encouraging comments

 

Excellent photos.

And to some up my view on the brutality of nature: You can't have life without death.