Trek to the Peregrine Falcon nest

Photo 1: That's me on the edge of a high cliff photographing a peregrine nest. Thanks to Christine Vance for getting this shot of me with my Canon G9.

Last night I joined some biologist friends to check the status of a Peregrine Falcon nest on the north shore of Superior. The trek to the nest site was fairly brutal... steep bushwacking with lots of places to clamber over boulders and dropoffs. It wouldn't have been so bad, but of course I was carring camera gear which included a 500/4 lens and tripod. Perhaps I'm just a bit out of shape too!

We found our way to an overlook with a good view of the nest (peregrines nest on cliff-face rock ledges). I used my 500/4 lens with a 2x teleconvertor to get enough magnification for a decent shot. The nest was in shadow, making it very tough to get sharp photos at slow shutter speeds with the high magnification and moving chicks. Although these are by no means great photos, it was an incredible experience to see the nest and enjoy the stunning views of the Lake Superior shoreline.


Photo 2: Three Peregrine Falcon chicks in a nest on Lake Superior.
EOS 1DsIII; 500/4IS & 2X teleconvertor