A visit to Wingspan in Rotorua has been on my to-do list for ages, so it was with great expectation we arrived today. We enjoyed an hour of education and entertainment on the NZ Falcon or kārearea. The presentation started with adult male & female and concluded with an adolescent who is just learning to control their flight and still has down amongst the feathers. The centre image shows the bird expertly plucking the rabbit before eating it. NZ Falcon are an endangered species as they nest on the ground and they are affected by declining habitat and rats, stoats etc. The lighting was difficult and this made it almost impossible to get light in their eyes.
wonderful to see, i recently watched a falcon snatch a fantail out of the air and shred it to bits at the top of a lamppost, of course i didnt have my camera with me!
@kali66 Eww I’m glad you didn’t have your camera, fantails are one of my favourite birds... they did tell (and show) us at Wingspan how fast the falcons are in the air, but I take some consolation from the fact that they kill quickly and cleanly once their prey is caught.
Wonderful, this takes me back to early August when hubby had his belated birthday gift from the Teenager of a day flying falcons and eagles and owls and other marvellous birds of prey to the glove. They are such exciting things to watch. Loved looking at this.
