To Will Sooter, this falcon isn’t just a photography subject; he’s an old friend.
Sooter is a field biologist who has studied the behavior of this male peregrine falcon and his mate for the past nine years. While his binoculars and field journal are normally his instruments of choice in the field, Sooter was able to capture this photo at the perfect moment, while positioned 300 feet above ground on a bluff in La Jolla, California.
After spending thousands of hours with the birds over the years, he knows them pretty well. “I get into biosynchronicity with their behavior, and thus I am able to anticipate certain types of behavior,” he says.
This image was a Top 100 photo from the 2013 Audubon Magazine Photography Awards. To see all of the photos, click here.