Photography The Layzee Way: Raptor Cliffs

I am fortunate to live in East Kent where we have amazing variations in habitat from marshlands to cliff's the only thing we don't have in abundance is woodland.

I went for a walk along my local beach which is bordered by chalk cliff, no more than a hundred metre's into my walk there up on the cliff on a branch of a tree hanging out over the cliff a Peregrine Falcon, the fastest bird on the planet.

Canon 7D Mk2 1/2000 +1ev f5.6 iso 400 500mm

The effective focal length being 800mm when the 7dmk2 crop factor is added into the equation.

Sat there quite unperturbed by my presence, it then decided to go off on a hunt and disappeared into the blue yonder.

Canon 7D Mk2 1/1250 +1.67ev f5.6 iso 400 500mm

In no time at all it returned clutching a Starling it landed up on a small ledge and proceeded to eat its unfortunate catch.

Canon 7D Mk2 1/640 f5.6 iso 400 500mm

After sitting there for a few minutes something spooked the Peregrine, it took of and landed a little further up the cliff in a more sheltered position and again settled down to eat.

Canon 7D Mk2 1/2500 f4.0 iso 400 500mm

If you look closely in the above you can see the feathers that have just been plucked from the kill.

Its sad that a Starling had to die in order for this Peregrine to live but that is nature, and I am sure the Starlings end was a quick one.

A couple of days later I went back the Peregrine was still about but I was on the hunt for a different bird of prey, on my walk along the base of the cliff's I happened to look up as you do and spotted this beauty perched on the top of a dead tree.

Canon 5D Mk4 1/400 f7.1 iso 100 700mm

A juvenile Cuckoo, I quickly fired off some shots, this was a first for me, I have seen Cuckoos before but this is the first one I have managed a half decent shot of.

I continued my walk for maybe another kilometre and found what I was looking for !!