Tuesday 25 March 2014

NEWTON MARSH KILLERS.

Three or four times this winter down at Newton Marsh I`ve witnessed  a GREAT BACKED GULL and a PEREGRINE FALCON attacking the Wigeon flock at the same time, hopeing to be successful by the confusion they cause. To see with one`s own eyes this spectacle is amazing but to capture images of the event with the camera as the story unfolds was I thought almost impossible. This was the first time I`ve seen one be successful and to my suprise the GBBG was the one to capture a Wigeon,it took aprox 12 mins for the GBBG to kill the Wigeon while being mobbed by the PF.After a while the GBBG had had enough of the PF and got up of the Marsh to chase the PF away,but after a short distance the rolls were reversed and the falcon turned on the gull attacking it.The gull flew off and the falcon dived into the water dragging the Wigeon to the bank were it started to feast on its trophy.Who would have thought that the PF would have scavenged of a GBBG kill.I`ve posted images of the event as they unfold even though they are only distant record shots.NATURE IN THE RAW.










3 comments:

Pete Woodruff said...

A truly amazing sequence of events of bird behaviour. To be honest I would never have expected to see a GBBG attack a Wigeon, let alone a PF come on the scene to take the prize from the gull.

An illustrated account which in my view should be widely published elsewhere in the birding world.

Brian Rafferty said...

Martin. Wonderful observation of Nature in the raw.A pity the action took place at distance but you have still managed a photographic record of this encounter.More rewards for the time you spend at Newton Marsh. Well done.

Gary Jones said...

Wonderful images Martin, the last time I was there I saw the Peregrine hunting, but not with a GBBG joining in...great stuff!!

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