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Birds, Insects & Bats in flight (outdoors) Page 33

Image Taken on 14 Dec 2020 at 12:49    Image of day on 20 Jan 2021

A good view of the feathers on our female Kestrel.


Ref: 20210120_d73_20201214_1249_573 kestrel female with feathers evenly spread in flight(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 03 Feb 2020 at 16:56    Image of day on 01 Mar 2020

In the above montage, and more clearly here, you can see that this female has a single Grey tail feather to the left - a tail with the female markings but male colour.
Gender just isn't simple is it!


Ref: 20200301_d01_20200203_1656_027_fb6 kestrel female with single grey tail feather landing back to camera on meadow post(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 02 Oct 2009 at 10:42    Image of day on 04 Nov 2009

A lovely surprise was 2 female kestrels flying overhead within the same minute - first a 'normal' and secondly our 'blonde' bird. We have montaged two similar aerial positions together to show the different colouring.


Ref: 20091104_db1_20091002_1042_154+173 kestrel females (normal and blonde) flyover (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 18 Oct 2009 at 14:50    Image of day on 27 Nov 2009

A Kestrel flyby - we definitely felt 'watched'. Artistic layout only - just an 'impression'.


Ref: 20091127_db1_20091018_1450_037+038+040+1451_044 kestrel flyby 1+2+3+5 of 5 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 17 Jun 2008 at 16:10    Image of day on 01 Jul 2008

The male Kestrel had a leg injury and was struggling a bit, but now seems to be back to his old health.


Ref: 20080701_dc1_20080617_1610_338 kestrel hovering(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 20 Apr 2007 at 17:54    Image of day on 09 May 2007

In the evening sun a Kestrel swooped and hovered over our patch for a few minutes, the sun for once lighting the underside. Here is one while it was hovering - we didn't see it catch anything.


Ref: 20070509_d10_20070420_1754_015 kestrel hovering (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 13 Dec 2009 at 10:59    Image of day on 18 Jan 2010

Despite the difficult lighting, this kestrel hovering in a strong wind with wings and claws all over the place had to be included. In this sequence the bird was basically stationary horizontally but gradually losing height relative to a cloud line near the top.


Ref: 20100118_db1_20091213_1059_154-159 kestrel hovering & slowly losing height 04-09 of 10 (vertically accurate montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 01 Mar 2010 at 10:03    Image of day on 30 Mar 2010

A Kestrel hovering always into the wind with some lovely detail of the feathers. 2 images from the same 'hover' shown side by side. They keep their head position amazingly still while the wings, tail and body move all over the place.


Ref: 20100330_df1_20100301_1003_189+1002_187 kestrel hovering (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 21 Jun 2009 at 17:44    Image of day on 18 Jul 2009

This kestrel has made repeated visits to one corner of the site, most of the time in drab overcast condition when one enjoys taking the pics (about 600) but only a few are worth keeping.


Ref: 20090718_db1_20090621_1744_189 kestrel hovering 12 of 19 (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 23 Sep 2015 at 11:01    Image of day on 21 Nov 2015

About 400m from us this Kestrel made a characteristic hunting hover, dropping down in stages on some hapless prey. We never saw what happened once below the hedge.


Ref: 20151121_df3_20150923_1101_026+032+040+043+049 kestrel hovering and dropping down in stages against trees 01+02+04+07+12 of 12 (accurate montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 17 Jun 2010 at 13:35    Image of day on 24 Jul 2010

The male kestrel doesn't normally put on a good show when we are about, but was very intent on a hunt. He hovered for several minutes over the pasture.


Ref: 20100724_df1_20100617_1335_465 kestrel hovering in hunt (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 02 Nov 2011 at 13:27    Image of day on 17 Dec 2011

The previous day he had obliged with a bit of hovering. This is a selection of 3 images from 31 as he spotted something and dived out of camera frame and then out of sight.


Ref: 20111217_df1_20111102_1327_151+171+177 kestrel hovering in strong wind 08+20+24 of 31 (vertical montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 26 Oct 2015 at 12:29    Image of day on 17 Dec 2015

A Kestrel hovering above a hedge but not catching anything before wandering off to the east. The bird was stationary in the air and the images are spread out downwards


Ref: 20151217_df3_20151026_1229_010-013 kestrel hunting in southerly wind 2-5 of 5 (hovering impression montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 31 Oct 2008 at 08:30    Image of day on 18 Nov 2008

On Thursday at 06:50 with it barely light we saw from the car a Kestrel hunting over the local road. It flew off as we slowed down & don't know which sex. But on Friday a bright start tempted us out with the camera (until the rising wind at near freezing drove us in) and this female kestrel obliged with a flyby obviously giving us a number of suspicious glances.


Ref: 20081118_dc1_20081031_0830_017 female kestrel in flight(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 18 May 2008 at 13:00    Image of day on 28 May 2008

The male kestrel is about this area a number of times each day at the moment.


Ref: 20080528_dc1_20080518_1300_030 kestrel in flight(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 23 Oct 2007 at 13:50    Image of day on 23 Nov 2007

Not the female kestrel this time (possibly a juvenile male) spent quite a while hovering into the wind over some of our rough grass. The wind/sun directions were hopeless for good photos, but it did do a few sweeps round offering this opportunity.


Ref: 20071123_d01_20071023_1350_039 kestrel in flight (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 05 Mar 2010 at 12:32    Image of day on 08 Apr 2010

Just for the joy of showing three Kestrel pics in one go.


Ref: 20100408_df1_20100305_1232_194-196 kestrel in flight (arbitrary successive frame montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 13 Oct 2016 at 12:01    Image of day on 24 Nov 2016

A short fly-by by a Kestrel. This bland sky is this time featureless cloud preventing accurate spacing


Ref: 20161124_df3_20161013_1201_001-010 kestrel in flight (selected) 1-6 of 6 (close spaced impression montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 04 Oct 2010 at 16:12    Image of day on 24 Nov 2010

A portrait of our new local female Kestrel flying along in the distance.


Ref: 20101124_df1_20101004_1612_045 female kestrel in flight 1 of 4 (crop @ 768)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 21 Feb 2015 at 15:12    Image of day on 05 Apr 2015

This female Kestrel took off from an 11KV power pole crossbar and flew a series of curves that took her close to us. We captured this sequence over about one third of a second here accurately montaged against clouds (which are out of this montage crop).


Ref: 20150405_df2_20150221_1512_148-150 kestrel in flight 1-3 of 3 (accurate montage @7fps)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


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