Kestrel picture special

By Paul Cecil | Published October 12, 2008

It was unbelievably warm day today and I managed to head over to my favoured kestrel haunt during the afternoon. For the first hour I had to content myself with small birds (goldfinches, wheatears and a few unidentified species). I'd wandered off to the south of the area, but kept my eyes peeled and eventually spotted the faint sight of a hovering bird about half a mile back where I'd come from.

I slowly made my way across, taking some long range shots as I did in case it flew off. I needn't have worried. It turned out to be a spectacular sighting and produced around 200 images. I've included a few here and have added a selection of two dozen to my main website. They are not necessarily the best shots but sorting and processing them properly will take a while.

Here's a taster (term used advisedly!) 😉

From a distance

Kestrel in full flight

Kestrel resting

Kestrel hovering

Kestrel carrying prey

Beginning to eat

Kestrel enjoying its meal

All shots were taken with the Canon EOS 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. For the shots of the kestrel devouring its prey I supported the camera on a Manfrotto 458B Neotec tripod and 488RC2 ball head.

This entry was posted in Bird of Prey and tagged .

16 Comments

  1. Ukwildlife October 12, 2008 at 10:10 pm #

    awesome photos. Looks like theres one less bank/field vole in that meadow now!

  2. Words October 12, 2008 at 11:10 pm #

    Thanks Neil. It was something I've been hoping to get again (I took a shorter feeding sequence about 16 months ago, but today I managed to get the right side of the sun).

  3. Words October 13, 2008 at 12:10 am #

    Thanks Vulpes!

  4. Words October 13, 2008 at 12:10 am #

    I'm not sure the vole would agree 😀

  5. Vulpes vulpes October 13, 2008 at 12:10 am #

    Wow, great shots!

    (:rip: vole!)

  6. Dudley October 13, 2008 at 12:10 am #

    Fantastic capture!

  7. dmfalmeida October 13, 2008 at 4:10 am #

    Oh my!
    Great sequence!!!
    Dan

  8. gdare October 13, 2008 at 5:10 am #

    Excellent :yes:

  9. Words October 13, 2008 at 7:10 am #

    Darko, thanks :cheers:

  10. Words October 13, 2008 at 7:10 am #

    Thanks Dan 😀

  11. SittingFox October 13, 2008 at 4:10 pm #

    Great shots! :hat: Beautiful bird. And I'm also marvelling at that blue sky, although it is very clear out here on the edge of the prairies too 😉

  12. Words October 13, 2008 at 11:10 pm #

    Adele, the hot weather didn't last (it was over 70 yesterday). Have to admit to being pleased with the series of photos and now I have a perfect wildlife shot for 'Red Nose' day 😉

  13. CedarFox October 15, 2008 at 4:10 am #

    Excellent shots!

  14. Words October 15, 2008 at 7:10 am #

    Thanks Eric!

  15. Ukwildlife October 15, 2008 at 8:10 am #

    I was going to put this on the bbc wildlife forum (but it wont let me log in) – you should send in the kestrel feeding photo (and some foxes) to the 'your picture' bit in the bbc wildlife magazine. There have a good shot at being published

  16. Words October 16, 2008 at 7:10 am #

    Neil, I've put one of the shots on the forum (in Wildlife SIghtings) but I might also send one in to them.