Peregrine Hand-off

I don't know what it is about the peregrine falcon that has made it one of my favorite birds to photograph. Maybe it's the fact that they were nearly wiped out in the US back in the '60s before anyone understood what DDT did to their eggshells. Or maybe it's the fact that they are the fastest animal on the planet, able to reach speeds of over 200 mph (320kph). That speed alone makes it a less than optimal bird to try to photograph. It's just too fast, and during the 10 years I have been photographing them I have only a handful of decent pictures to show for it and most of those taken when the bird is sitting on a branch doing nothing interesting. So the series below which represents about 40 hours of watching, waiting and hundreds of missed shots, is somewhat of a dream come true, an adult peregrine handing off a meal to a juvenile bird. Truth be told the pictures are nowhere near as sharp as I would have liked them to be, but after ten years, you take what you can get. If only there was some way to get a GoPro camera mounted on a peregrine...

More (less interesting) peregrine images can be seen at
http://www.pbase.com/kingfisher/peregrine

Sunset Shootout; Empire State vs. Top of the Rock

No longer satisfied with the Southern California sun during the long Swedish winters, My daughter Kristina insisted we visit New York City as well, and definitely not during the winter. So after enduring the Swedish winter with many days at -20C we also got to experience NYC at 100F. Thankfully all the tourist attractions and Starbucks have both A/C and WiFi. Even when it's hot the breeze and the view is great from both the Empire State Building and the Top of the Rock.The views are different enough to warrant visiting both buildings for the sunset and the lights coming on.

Sunset from the Empire State Building

and as night falls the view gets even better

Sunset in HDR

Sunset from the Empire State

Nightfall from the Top of the Rock

According to recent surveys in the Gehrisch family this won't be the last time we visit NYC...