After yesterday's partial success, I went back to Sheepcote to see if I could do any better today. It wasn't plain sailing as before I could do anything I had to wait for a horse race to go by.
Then I was buzzed by a World War 2 bi-plane (actually a Swordfish).
Finally though, the race track cleared, the skies emptied of aircraft, and the kestrels emerged. There were several out hunting and one bird was especially cooperative, tracking back and forth along the line of the now quiet race circuit.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
10 Comments
Lovely shots of the kestrel, Words! Really quite exceptional.
Seeing the old warbird was nice, too (I do hope that torpedo was a dummy!)
Excellent! My favourite is the last photo. So many feathers to control!
Anonymous writes:
That last shot is a standout! Excellent.
Marilyn
I've seen that last one on your FB page. Excellent!!!
Marilyn, thanks! The kestrel was just above me for that last one. And I'd finally found a position with the sun behind me.
Adele, the last shot is one from a sequence. Probably my star photo of the day.
Darko, thanks!
dW, I barely noticed the torpedo when I took the photo, but I'm fairly sure it was not operational (though with our budgets cuts you can never be too sure). The kestrels were on top form!
I don't know about kestrels, but apparently gyrfalcons deliberately put the sun behind them, so their prey cannot spot them so easily. Awkward from a photographer's perspective!
Adele, that's an interesting technique, but it makes sense. It would also improve the light from the point of view of hunting.