When I first looked at this bird through my telephoto lens this morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I was struck by its incredible eyes. After marveling for a moment at those spectacular eyes, I suddenly realized that I had never seen a bird like this before and was not sure of its identification.
It turns out that this is a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), one of the fastest creatures on the earth. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a Peregrine Falcon can reach speeds of 69 miles per hour (112 kn/h) in flight and when diving from high in the air a Peregrine Falcon may reach speeds of 200 mph (320 km/h) as it drops toward its prey.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Great photo! 😎
Incredible speed! And yes those eyes are very sharp!
Thanks, Chris. You probably noticed that I was shooting in between branches, but did manage to keep the focus on the awesome eye that was visible.
Beautiful bird! I see Peregrine falcons around here in Santa Cruz, sometimes getting strafed by crows. Once up in San Jose I saw a Peregrine atop a parked vehicle eating a pigeon as people gathered around and took pictures.
I am always amazed at how bold (or crazy) crows are. Around here, I have seen them frequently harassing eagles and hawks, which are much bigger and stronger. It was a nice surprise for me to see a falcon yesterday. It was in a tree overlooking a bay full of ducks. I’ll keep my eyes open when I am in that part of the wildlife refuge and maybe I will be luck to catch one in action.
This is my favourite bird!!! I write about animals at tedjas.wordpress.com and I watch a webcams of peregrines in Woking !!!
That is so cool. It’s my first time seeing a falcon like this and I may return to that location again today to see if I can spot it again.
Incredible capture!