Three months... yes, three months! I can't believe I left so much time pass between part one and part two of this post! What a shame... :(
Anyway, I am going to show you now probably the most interesting part of the courtship, the actual fights.
While
the mating display I told you about in the previous part continues for
most of the time, once in a while a more serious action takes place,
especially when females come to visit the lek.
The confrontations go from just facing each other without really "attacking", to jumping towards the adversary trying to find an opening.
And then... ATTACK!
Everything is very fast and it's quite difficult to clearly
see what's happening in those few seconds. Only when I look at the
pictures, later, after coming back home, I can see the drama of the
action, the fierce look and the strength the birds put in the fight.
Feathers fly in the air and for a short but very intense time, the two
birds fight in the air, almost as if they were dancing.
Shots have been taken throughout a period of four days, in different weather, as you can see from the colors and the light conditions.
And then, suddenly, everybody fly away... a small bird of prey arrived in the distance... better be far, you never know. It was almost time, anyway, for the birds to stop their mating activity for the day.
The four days spent photographing these beautiful birds have been an awesome experience that I hope to repeat one day. If you enjoyed the shots, you might enjoy also the story I published on MAPTIA:
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