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Nature Photography - Done Naturally

Gyrfalcon

Falco rusticolus

Probably the oldest of the "favorite" photos I have listed out  here. There's a reason for that! From the time I started birding in 2000, until the spring of 2004, I either was using a pretty poor camera/lens combination, or was "digiscoping", where you link a compact camera with a spotting scope.  Digiscoping certainly gave you long "reach", but the quality of the photos just generally couldn't touch what's possible with today's DSLR cameras. However, if conditions were perfect, with bright light and a generally cooperative subject, it was possible to get some very nice shots. On this day in February of 2004, I was birding near Presho, South Dakota, when I came across this beautiful juvenile Gyrfalcon.  It took me a minute or two to get my digiscoping equipment set up for a shot, but thankfully this young bird stayed put just long enough to grab a few frames.  The quality of this photo may not match most of my newer photos, but after all these years this is still one of my favorite photos (and my online avatar for many of my online accounts!).

Gyrfalcon - Falco rusticolus

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