These were taken from some distance away, but show that birds of prey have plenty to worry about when they take to the wing. The aggressors here are jackdaws (I think) or, just possibly, crows.
The kestrel (left) being chased
The kestrel (lower left) now faces two aggressors
The pair of jackdaws try to drive the kestrel away
Kestrel now on far right
A third jackdaw joins the fray
The action brought them closer into view
The kestrel eventually swooped and out ran its opponents
SittingFox
22 Apr 2007Poor kestrel :eyes: Jackdaws seem to be over-enthusiastic mobbers. I've seen them chasing flying herons before now – another species most unlikely to prey upon them. It's interesting to see the size comparison as well.
Words
22 Apr 2007Adele – the jackdaws are certainly the most organized defence. Gulls occasionally mob a passing sparrowhawk, but the crows here tend to concentrate of giving the wood pigeons a hard time!
Ramunas – yes, I'd seen that 🙂 I must sort out a picture.
Ramunas
22 Apr 2007btw, kestrel is the codename for new version of Opera 😉
http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2007/04/20/current-work
Flying Red Fox Blog
23 Apr 2007Nice shots, poor Kestrel! I have seen a Heron being chased by a group of Seagulls once, thought that was odd as the Heron was twice the size of them hehe:P