Who knew?

Who knew Kestrels had drumsticks?

Snap me! Snap me!

This little fella just wouldn’t leave us alone as we were sea-watching the other day. He was just so desperate to have his photo taken he even hovered above us repeatedly.

Kes

This little girl was particularly bold and confiding.

What could have been her mate was equally as bold when he hovered above us and stooped on what was probably a Field Vole just a few metres away.

 

Awaiting conclusion.

A knock on the window of Falcon Cottage the other day was an unexpected visit from neighbours Tom and Sam. They brought with them a sad little visitor. Sam took a female kestrel from under her coat and laid it out on the worktop. She had found it in the middle of a field, semi-moribund. As I tried to explore the breastbone for fat deposits a set of very sharp talons immediately clenched my hand. Not that moribund then! It was severely undernourished. Given it was late in the day I asked Sam to put it in a dark box in a warm place overnight. If it was still alive in the morning it needed fluids and food and should be taken for rehabilitation. We await a conclusion.

UPDATE: Sadly the young lady died overnight. Perhaps a little too weak to make it.

We had history me and her

There I was staring wistfully from the cliff top out across the sea to the north. I was scanning through binoculars dreaming of seeing a large cetacean surface amid a crash of white surf.

My vision was fully obscured for a second. I dropped the bins expecting to see one of the Herring Gulls that had been floating around. Instead I was being buzzed by a female Kestrel. We stared discerningly at one another for an instant and she carried on quartering the cliff face and I relaxed comfortably back into my daydream of finding a Fin Whale.

On my way back to the Landrover I came across her again. She was perched on a branch over the footpath. The light behind her was blinding. She could easily see me but I couldn’t see her clearly at all. If I was to get a photograph I would need to walk underneath her, turn and raise the camera. She would surely fly off as I did this.

I walked slowly and kept my hands in my coat pockets. Birds don’t like hands. Raise your hands in the air 200m from a roosting flock of gulls and every one will take to the air. I held my breath and as I passed underneath reached for my camera and turned slowly. She was still there. We obviously had history me and her; she knew I meant no harm. The spell was only broken as she glided down to the ploughed field to land on a morsel her keen eyes had picked out among the furrows.

Almost Tame

A family of Kestrels played a part in some of our recent tours.

The young got so bold that they allowed quite a close approach as they sat on fence posts. They were quite oblivious to us as they pounced on beetles and grubs before returning to their perch.

Hunter

Sat in the dunes was a canny little girl waiting in the sunshine for the first migrants.

Weak with travel migrants make easy targets for Kestrels. This one was eying up a pair of Blackcaps when I took this shot.