Today, because I volunteer at the California Foundation for Birds of Prey, I met and photographed Stig, a gyrfalcon/merlin hybrid whose handler is Kim Mauch. This gorgeous falcon is named after The Stig, from the BBC’s Top Gear show. The Stig is a white-suited race car driver who never removes his helmet. According to Top Gear, “Some say he’s a CIA experiment gone wrong, and that his blood smells of Root Beer. All we know is, he’s called The Stig.” Perhaps Stig, the falcon, was given this moniker because of the helmet he wears when he is out and about and not hunting. The difference is that Stig, the falcon, sometimes goes without his helmet. And I don’t think his blood smells like root beer!
Lens at 48mm
ISO 500
f/4.5
1/160
SOOC
Wow- fantastic portrait! He looks very fierce and intimidating- and beautiful too! Great shot!