PracticalPhotograPhy.com 31
I
’vesPentthePastfewmonthswatchingand
photographingperegrinefalconsaturbansitesnearto my
home. fifty years ago, peregrines came close to extinction
in the UK due to the use of certain pesticides. following the
ban of these chemicals, the number of peregrines in the UK
has recovered. as well as on sea cliffs and moorland crags,
peregrines are now nesting in many of our towns and cities on
tall buildings and man-made structures in the rural environment.
it’s an offence to disturb peregrines at or near to their nest
and in most circumstances a
licence is required to photograph
one. while many urban peregrines
have become accustomed to the
presence of humans and have
chosen to be among us, they tendto
nest on ledges and in purpose-built
nesting trays hidden from view.
however, last year i learned of a
pair of peregrines that have nestedforseveralyearson a ledgeon
a disused industrial building, whichis visiblefroma footpathby
the side of a road on high groundoverlookingthebuilding.this
particular pair of peregrines are used to human presence around
the building so there was no risk of my presence disturbing them.
they had been photographed and monitored for several years by
a few local photographers.
while the nest was just visible, it was still a fair distance away
and i had to use the longest lens i own, a 600mm, with a 1.4x
or 2x teleconverter. Using my 46mP nikon d850, i would then
crop to around 20mP in post-processing, with the effective
focal length of the images being between 850mm and 1800mm.
at these extreme focal lengths and distances, good technique
is essential, but many other factors also affect image quality,
so i always took multiple images and kept the sharpest.
likemostbirdsof prey,peregrinesspenda great deal of time
doingverylittle,followedby shortperiodsof frantic activity.
this behaviour makes it hard for any wildlife photographer and
it’s easy to miss the action when it eventually happens. the key
is to learn the peregrines’ behaviour and the indicators that give
away that they’re about to do something. spending time with the
peregrines, and talking to the other photographers, i started to
learn their traits, so i was ready when the action happened.
Photographing the peregrines in flight was a challenge.
given their speed and proximity to
the building, it was difficult to keep
focus on them. Using a tripod was too
slow and i resorted to handholding
my 600mm lens, which was a
physical strain. nikon kindly leant
me a 500mm Pf lens, which uses
a fresnel element, similar to that
used in a lighthouse, to produce
a le nsaboutthesamesizeand weight as a 70-200mm. this
tack-sharplensis fast-focusing and holdable for long periods,
makingit greatforphotographing birds in flight.
this lens allowed me to react quickly when one of the
peregrine chicks fledged and ended up perched on a garage roof
in a housing development. without a tripod to hinder me, i was
able to photograph the young peregrine at a distance from
between parked cars. shortly afterwards, the bird was safely
relocated back onto the roof of the building above the nest site.
at extreme focal
lengths & distances,
good technique
is essential
andrew mason
Adventures of A wIldlIfe photogrApher urbAn peregrInes
Andrew Mason is a lawyer turned wildlife and landscape
photographer based in Staffordshire. He has been
published worldwide and his clients include theRSPB
and The Wildlife Trusts. andrewmasonphoto.com
