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

Image Taken on 07 Mar 2016 at 06:59    Image of day on 06 Apr 2016

The female Kestrel was out early hunting, gradually moving east away from us in her usual hunting pattern whether she can see us or not.
The gold colour is from early morning sunshine.


Ref: 20160406_df3_20160307_0659_117-120 kestrel female in flight soon after sunrise 1-4 of 4 (close spaced montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 11 Sep 2007 at 18:36    Image of day on 14 Oct 2007

We were surprised by one visit by a kestrel (see 28 Feb 2007) and now we have another. This site is more enclosed and the bird seems to be flying from a clearing where we felled a falling tree a few weeks ago & had a load of Blackthorn removed by local RSPB volunteers. We think the claw contains a piece of rabbit rather than a whole rodent.


Ref: 20071014_d35_20070911_1836_008 fb2 kestrel female in flight with piece of rabbit (q) prey (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 11 Jun 2020 at 13:32    Image of day on 16 Jul 2020

Out trusty female Kestrel flies past with some obvious prey in her talons, but with no hope of an ID of the unfortunate creature.


Ref: 20200716_d73_20200611_1332_069 kestrel female in flight with unidentified prey in claws(r+mb id@432).jpg


Image Taken on 06 Jan 2024 at 13:20    Image of day on 05 Feb 2024

She then flies around the SE corner of our patch and lands in one of the conifers inside our patch, viewed from the outside.


Ref: 20240205_df3_20240106_1320_171 kestrel female initial landing on conifer branch(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 01 Jan 2019 at 14:25    Image of day on 05 Feb 2019

... dived down onto the crop, didn't seem to catch her prey, ...


Ref: 20190205_df3_20190101_1425_072 kestrel female landing after hover(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 31 Jan 2022 at 12:20    Image of day on 05 Mar 2022

The female Kestrel made a brief visit to the Meadow Post.
The half-bird on the left is NOT a Damian Hurst inspired artistic effect!


Ref: 20220305_d01_20220131_1220_021-1222_024_fb6 kestrel female landing and departure on meadow post 1-4 of 4 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 14 Dec 2020 at 09:56    Image of day on 19 Jan 2021

Once at sufficient height she flew to another tree branch for the next hunt.


Ref: 20210119_d73_20201214_0956_408-410+413 kestrel female landing in tree 1-4 of 4 ((right to left montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 10 Apr 2020 at 16:12    Image of day on 26 Apr 2020

One of our last few regular sightings for now of the local female Kestrel, landing on the grass for just a moment, presumably to pick up some morsel she has spotted, before flying on. We expect she is now incubating eggs somewhere. The male Kestrel hunts to our north and we can only rarely see him but he is most probably 'hunting for two' at the moment.


Ref: 20200426_d73_20200410_1612_008-017 kestrel female landing momentarily on grass then flying on 1+3+5-7+9+10 (accurate montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 11 Oct 2020 at 07:49    Image of day on 21 Nov 2020

Read this sequence right to left as the camera caught the landing of the female Kestrel on the 11kV cable. You see here about 1 second of action.


Ref: 20201121_df3_20201011_0749_037-043 kestrel female landing on 11kv cable 1-7 of 7 (spread montage @ 7fps)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 15 Aug 2022 at 06:50    Image of day on 26 Sep 2022

This nervous female Kestrel doesn't like us walking down the Farm Road 50m away, and flies 100m from the nearer pole to the next one along.


Ref: 20220926_d72_20220815_0650_168-170+172+174 kestrel female landing on 11kv crossbar (accurate montage @8fps)jpg(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 07 Feb 2020 at 15:26    Image of day on 03 Mar 2020

The female Kestrel has been a regular sighting for a few weeks.
Despite being only 20m away from us she landed on this crossbar. Enjoy her shadows moving up the post (accurately montaged along with the bird).


Ref: 20200303_df3_20200207_1526_061-072 kestrel female landing on 11kv crossbar 03-05+07+11+14 of 14 (approx montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 23 Jun 2015 at 14:49    Image of day on 24 Aug 2015

This female Kestrel has returned after a few weeks absence - we do hope she is hunting for what should be half-grown youngster(s) in the nest. We often see her on these power system crossbars, and here she is flying up from the rear. The sequence is accurate except for moving the landed bird left by about 1 bird width.


Ref: 20150824_df3_20150623_1449_153-159 kestrel female landing on 11kv crossbar 1-3+5+7 of 8 (accurate montage with landed bird shifted)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 18 Jan 2011 at 12:14    Image of day on 09 Mar 2011

She left the post, perched in a few trees and returned and we were ready to catch the moment of arrival.


Ref: 20110309_d01_20110118_1214_047+048+050 kestrel female landing on concrete mains cables post 1+2+4 of 8 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 14 Dec 2020 at 12:46    Image of day on 20 Jan 2021

... but she made it after a second or two.


Ref: 20210120_d73_20201214_1246_516 kestrel female landing on lombardy poplar twig in strong wind 10 of 16 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 05 Mar 2020 at 11:04    Image of day on 27 Mar 2020

While watching the local female Kestrel for about 25 minutes, we caught this moment when she flew to the mains cable next to the concrete pole, showing a wonderful spread of her feathers before she landed.


Ref: 20200327_d73_20200305_1104_041+046 kestrel female landing on mains wire connectors near concrete post 1+6 of 6 (approx montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 26 May 2024 at 14:33    Image of day on 22 Jun 2024

The female Kestrel's landing is enough fun to show it at larger scale.


Ref: 20240622_d01_20240526_1433_191_fb6 kestrel female landing on meadow post(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 29 Oct 2021 at 14:41    Image of day on 07 Dec 2021

2 days later this female Kestrel chooses a fine afternoon to land on the same post.


Ref: 20211207_d01_20211029_1441_035+036_fb6 kestrel female landing on meadow post (montage 400ms apart)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 05 Mar 2022 at 12:06    Image of day on 02 Apr 2022

One of the female Kestrels lands on the meadow post, but didn't stay.


Ref: 20220402_d01_20220305_1206_207+208_fb6 kestrel female landing on meadow post (montage over 400ms)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 15 Jan 2024 at 11:56    Image of day on 08 Feb 2024

One of the female Kestrels makes a landing on the post.
These 2 pics are only half a second apart - its remarkable how the slight change of position relative to the sun completely changes the bird appearance. We guess that the sunlight would be 'dappled' if seen against a solid background.


Ref: 20240208_d01_20240115_1156_023+024_fb6 kestrel female landing on meadow post (montage over 500ms)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 25 Oct 2019 at 18:07    Image of day on 11 Dec 2019

A local female kestrel lands on the Meadow post in the gathering gloom of evening.


Ref: 20191211_d01_20191025_1807_017_fb6 kestrel female landing on meadow post 1 of 2 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg


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