OCBC Centre’s peregrine falcon brings dead pigeon home, flight photographed by birdwatchers
Mr Ivan Goh’s early morning photography session appeared to end with him going home empty-handed, but the sudden appearance of a peregrine falcon from the OCBC building turned it all around.
Source: Ivan Goh on Facebook
On 15 June, Mr Goh and his friend Andy Tan had staked out a HDB corridor near Havelock Road at 7am, hoping to catch a glimpse of a peregrine falcon rumoured to have been spotted twice in the area.
Despite over an hour of patient waiting, the bird never showed. But just as the duo were about to pack up and call it a day, the unexpected happened.
Falcon makes grand entrance just as photographers prepare to leave
At around 8.10am, the two decided to try again another day. As they chatted, Mr Goh suddenly spotted a peregrine falcon flying by on his extreme left.
Source: Ivan Goh on Facebook
He shouted to alert Mr Tan, and both of them snapped burst shots from their cameras as it flew past.
“I was lucky to get 79 clear pics out of the 81 burst shots, while Andy managed to also snap a very clear rear shot of its departure,” Mr Goh told MS News.
The photos showed the peregrine falcon mid-flight, grasping a slain pigeon in its talons, with a feather in its beak. Its prey had been left severely bloodied.
Source: Ivan Goh on Facebook
Peregrine falcons are the fastest animals on Earth, especially during their hunting dives. However, this one flew slower than usual due to the weight of its kill, allowing the two enough time to get their shots.
Even so, Mr Goh said it took just three seconds for it to fly from one end of the photographers’ field of vision to the other. He added that the falcon appeared to be flying in the direction of the OCBC Centre.
Source: ivangoh_nature on Instagram
OCBC Centre home to Singapore’s first native-born peregrine falcons
The OCBC Centre is the current nesting grounds of Singapore’s first-ever breeding pair of peregrine falcons, alongside their two children.
Tireless efforts by an NParks team resulted in the historic hatching of those chicks earlier this year.
Source: NParks on Facebook
While Mr Goh could not be absolutely certain, he found it likely that the falcon belonged to that same local family.
He claimed that the usual migratory falcons would have left Singapore already at this time of year. As such, the photographed falcon was likely to be one from the OCBC Centre.
Posting the photos to social media, Mr Goh expressed his happiness at being able to shoot photos of the residential family.
Source: Ivan Goh on Facebook
Also read: Peregrine falcon pair successfully hatch eggs with help from NParks, 1st time in S’pore history
Peregrine falcon pair successfully hatch eggs with help from NParks, 1st time in S’pore history
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Featured image adapted from Ivan Goh on Facebook.
