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Image-of-the-Day by Subject
Birds - Kestrel Page 11
Image Taken on 08 Oct 2014
at 16:16 Image of day on 16 Dec 2014
During one hover this female Kestrel's attention gets taken with something
we had no sight of off to our left.
 20 of 33 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20141216_df2_20141008_1616_155 kestrel female hovering over meadow looking about & flying off @5fps (selected) 20 of 33 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 08 Oct 2014
at 16:16 Image of day on 16 Dec 2014
We spotted this female Kestrel hunting over our meadow and photographed
her through the bars of a security gate - she is intolerant of humans in the open.
The end of her third hover, when she flew off to the South.
 27-31 of 33 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20141216_df2_20141008_1616_182-186 kestrel female hovering over meadow looking about & flying off @5fps (selected) 27-31 of 33 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 18 Feb 2015
at 10:47 Image of day on 02 Apr 2015
Here we caught her hovering for 2 seconds against a distant
hedge, and we hope you can see just how still the eye is as the
wings, body and tail maneuver around to keep her eyes focussed on
the ground.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20150402_df2_20150218_1047_097+109+111 kestrel female hovering over road eye motionless for 2 seconds @7fps 01+13+15 of 15 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 03 Aug 2016
at 16:09 Image of day on 19 Sep 2016
From a hover (always awkward to represent in a montage) at the top right the
female Kestrel suddenly dropped down to gain speed to fly to a new hunting spot.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20160919_df3_20160803_1609_040-048 kestrel female hovering then dropping down to move away 1+3+5+7+9 of 9 (accurate montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 15 Aug 2019
at 13:51 Image of day on 03 Oct 2019
This female Kestrel made a sudden appearance, hunting over the recently
harvested fields. While in our view she made about 7 hovers, each of only an
atypically short 3 or 4 seconds, before sweeping across to another hovering
position. Here, vertically stacked top to bottom, is one of the short hovers. As
you can see the bird was unusually active in the blustery wind. These 3 taken in
less than half a second.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20191003_df3_20190815_1351_032+034+035 kestrel female hovers multiple times for a few seconds over harvested field 1-3 of 3 (spread montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 04 Mar 2024
at 14:44 Image of day on 31 Mar 2024
In a strong and steady South East wind we enjoyed this Kestrel apparently just
hanging on the wind without a wing flap in sight.
This 1 second of images show the mass of adjustments the bird makes to her wings,
tail, and maybe even claws, to maintain the almost perfectly stationary head.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20240331_df3_20240304_1444_018+021+024+025 kestrel female hovers without flapping into strong steady wind (montage over 1 second)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 26 Jul 2020
at 18:14 Image of day on 01 Sep 2020
At around 6 p.m. this female Kestrel gave a quarter of an hour's
hunting demonstration watched through an upstairs window.
She flew in unexpectedly to a Willow tree on the far side of the pond about 22m away.
After a few minutes she flew onto a dead branch of the Ash tree occupying the
pond's island perhaps 17m away and started an intensive hunt. She flew from this
branch down to the bottom of the bird-table post, stayed a minute or two, and flew
back to a different branch on the Ash tree. Finally she flew down the TOP of the
bird table, unfortunately missing that cameras trigger beam.
+08+09+13 of 14 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20200901_df4_20200726_1814_003-1827_135 kestrel female hunt - willow+ash+ground+ash+table 01+04+(05+06)+08+09+13 of 14 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 28 Jun 2021
at 10:48 Image of day on 01 Aug 2021
The female Kestrel is here hunting from a power line, accompanied by a Wood pigeon on
the other cable. The Kestrel obviously caught something about 7 minutes after the top photo,
and took it to the meadow post to devour it where the automatic camera caught the action.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20210801_d72_20210628_1048_008+d01_20210628_1055_008-1104_026_fb6 kestrel female hunt from cable catches rodent eaten on meadow post 2-4+6+9 of 9 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 25 Mar 2022
at 12:00 Image of day on 26 Apr 2022
Once there she started an intense stare at the ground (on the other side of a huge
hedge for us). But whatever she saw must have 'gone away' as she then relaxed.
 from 11kv cable(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20220426_df3_20220325_1200_058 kestrel female hunting (unsuccessfully) from 11kv cable(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 26 Jul 2020
at 18:22 Image of day on 01 Sep 2020
More detailed picture from the hunt - the launch.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20200901_df4_20200726_1822_056 kestrel female hunting - willow + ash + ground + ash + table 06 of 14 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 26 Jul 2020
at 18:22 Image of day on 01 Sep 2020
More detailed picture from the hunt - the return after the failed attack.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20200901_df4_20200726_1822_092 kestrel female hunting - willow + ash + ground + ash + table 09 of 14 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 10 Mar 2021
at 16:04 Image of day on 05 Apr 2021
We hadn't seen the local female Kestrel for over a week, when tramping home in a
gale as it begins to rain, we find her on the sheltered north side of the house
hunting the grass in front of the main pond (left pic).
6 minutes later there she is, now on the other sheltered wall facing East, on
one of her favourite 'electrifying' perches from which she watched us go
inside. We don't know how long she stayed.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20210405_d73_20210310_1604_046+1610_049 kestrel female hunting during gale from sheltered places on house (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 16 Aug 2021
at 11:09 Image of day on 24 Sep 2021
Another of her favourite hunting perches is the nearby 11kV power cables.
.jpg)
Ref: 20210924_d73_20210816_1109_018 kestrel female hunting from 11kv cable(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 04 Feb 2022
at 11:07 Image of day on 08 Mar 2022
One of the female Kestrels high on an 11kV power cable over the Bridleway
much more interested in something below than the pesky humans.
.jpg)
Ref: 20220308_df3_20220204_1107_009 kestrel female hunting from 11kv cable over bridleway to north(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 29 Sep 2021
at 12:18 Image of day on 12 Nov 2021
The local female Kestrel in one her favourite Apple trees in our orchard for a little hunting.
.jpg)
Ref: 20211112_d72_20210929_1218_238 kestrel female hunting from apple tree(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 25 Jun 2022
at 16:16 Image of day on 13 Aug 2022
Our lovely 'Grey Feather' Kestrel hunting from a favourite perch.
You can see here that her tail is not 'quite right', but she nevertheless
obviously a successful individual and we are always pleased to see her.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20220813_df3_20220625_1616_159+1618_175 kestrel female hunting from apple tree (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 06 Jul 2020
at 14:48 Image of day on 11 Aug 2020
The female Kestrel spends a lot of the second day hunting from dead branches
in our old apple tree. Her hunts were less successful on this day - we imagine
that the patch of grass was 'voled out'
.jpg)
Ref: 20200811_d73_20200706_1448_086 kestrel female hunting from apple tree dead branch(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Oct 2025
at 10:35 Image of day on 15 Dec 2025
The female Kestrel has started visiting the 'back garden' Orchard to hunt.
Its 5 years since a Kestrel became a regular visitor hunting in the Orchard.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20251215_r70_20251023_1035_018 kestrel female hunting from apple tree in orchard (crop 2)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 24 Oct 2025
at 15:26 Image of day on 15 Dec 2025
Another visit by the female Kestrel to hunt from a venerable apple tree.
Note the apple not yet fallen in the upper right!
.jpg)
Ref: 20251215_r70_20251024_1526_028 kestrel female hunting from apple tree in orchard(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 25 Sep 2020
at 16:14 Image of day on 11 Nov 2020
The female Kestrel lands to hunt from a branch in one of the Ash trees along the
South hedge.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20201111_df3_20200925_1614_160-1615_174 kestrel female hunting from ash tree branch 2+3+5+6 of 6 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
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