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The Falcon and the Flyer


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  • John W Reid changed the title to The Falcon and the Flyer

For millionsĀ of years long before man, the birds ruled the skies and foremost among them are the Birds of Prey, in particular, the Peregrine Falcon the great predator of the sky.

I often think of what he must have thought of our early attempts at flight. The balloons were bad enough but now there is a noisy, rickety, smelly contraption that seems to want to share my sky he may have thought. Unfortunately little did he know that this weird thing would challenge him and win the battle for aerialĀ supremacy oftenĀ sucking him up into one of its engines.

Edited by John W Reid
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I started this life-sizeĀ bird about 20 years ago hoping that one day I may findĀ a good home for him. I got into making dioramas for many years and he stood on my bench waiting to be finished. Now I think that I have found his home in a diorama that I am now planning to build.

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The Peregrine is what you may call the worlds first fighter. He usually attacksĀ his prey in what is called a stoop, out of the sun, diving at over 200MPH not always in a straightĀ on attack but often at an angle timing his strike on the fly. He rolls his claw into a ball and strikes knocking his prey off its flight path continuing he then catches his prey in mid-airĀ with his claws.

Anyone who has witnessed this believes that it is one of the greatest displays of flight that they have ever seen.

Edited by John W Reid
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This is my interpretation of a female Peregrine falcon.I have used some artistic license here.This is a puffed up bird as we often see them in the winter in Canada she is doing this in order to ward off the cold.Her crop is obviously full and she is relaxed and kind of just surveying the sky.I have accentuated these factors as I wanted to show the power and strength and mood of the bird.I have given her a curious look which I will explain later.The female is a third larger than the male among raptors, they believe that this may because she needs the extra strength for egg laying and tending to her youngsters.

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I painted the bird all white and the base all black as I wanted to direct the viewer's attention to the overall piece not just how the feathers were done or how it was painted.Ā 

The Flyer will be itsĀ natural wood color with black fittings. I don't want any distracting brass fittings showing.

Edited by John W Reid
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