From January to June 2023, I photographed a pair of peregrine falcons – which can reach 200mph when descending onto prey – as they went through courtship, nesting and raising their young, then teaching the fledglings how to hunt and how to use the wind and the tail as a brake.
Peregrines stay with the same partner for life, unless one partner dies before the other. They remain within 100km of their birthplaces. This pair nests on the Great Orme. The male was ringed at an urban site in Greater Manchester in 2013. In 2023, three of their eggs hatched and two of the chicks survived.
I was pleased during the course of this project to photograph the male passing food to the female while in flight. This was in early June, the best time to see this behaviour. It happens in a second or two, so it’s difficult to capture in a still photo.
