This slightly wet and bedraggled (but still handsome) male kestrel was quite wary of me as I approached him on his favorite perch.
1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 500, EV +0.67
American Kestrels are notoriously difficult to get close to and several times he nearly flew off as I slowly worked myself within good shooting distance. But it had been a cold morning and these birds are more “sticky” in the chill so he allowed me a relatively close approach.
1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 640, EV +0.33
Soon after he became comfortable in my presence the warming sun came out (as you can tell by the difference in background in the first two images) and he began to preen. I got many interesting images of him working on his tail feathers but this one shows the eye best. For protection of their eyes they typically close them as they run a feather through their beak.
1/1000, f/8, ISO 640, EV +0.33
And then he began a long, slow stretch – first by fanning his tail…
1/1000, f/8, ISO 640, EV +0.33
and then stretching out his left wing downward. As you can see, they often stretch all three “limbs” at the same time – tail, wing and leg.
1/1000, f/8, ISO 640, EV +0.33
When it was over he fluffed up his feathers and held this position, with one foot up, for quite a while to enjoy the warmth of the sun.
I have many photos of perched kestrels but I don’t often get them stretching, since they only do so when they’re relaxed and it’s unusual for them to feel that way in close proximity to humans. By the time I found this bird the sun was high enough that the sidelight was a little harsh but overall I’m quite happy with the images.
Ron
Again wonderful pictures. In Alberta they use to be refered to as “sparrow hawks” which sounds better than a vole hawk 😀
The lighting is just perfect for this series – something that isn’t easy to control for wildlife, but you get credit for it anyway. Beautiful.
Wow! Just Wow!!! .. the best emails I ever receive are the ones about your blog being updated – you never fail to leave me completely amazed with your photos! Thank you so much 😀
Unreal! Fabulous job.
Some of the coolest Kestrel photos ever!
Tana, yes they do eat a lot of grasshoppers – at least that’s what the literature says. But where I shoot these birds I’ve only seen them eating voles. Lots and lots of voles. Oh, and one time only – a sparrow…
This is one of my favorite birds, they eat a lot of grasshoppers!
Just beautiful. Thank you so much.
o my.
The one w/feather in beak?
WOW! They are all delightful, and the play by play was truly helpful.
GREAT shots. Thanks!