Female American Kestrel lifting off after consuming her prey – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
After Consuming Her Prey in Northern Utah
I’m keeping this post short and sweet this morning because I’m not feeling great. I sneezed repeatedly yesterday morning while I was out photographing so it seems that my seasonal allergies have kicked into high gear then after I got back home I developed a headache that lasted until I went to sleep and I woke up with it this morning. This will pass and I’ll be back to 100% soon.
I did see some nice birds yesterday including a couple of Short-eared Owls, Northern Harriers, Swainson’s and Red-tailed Hawks, one Cooper’s Hawk, one immature Bald Eagle, lot of Turkey Vultures, a Chukar, my first of the season Western Kingbirds, many smaller birds that flew away too fast to be identified, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, some Ring-necked Pheasants, magpies and meadowlarks.
The bird that was the most cooperative yesterday morning was a female American Kestrel that I spotted eating her prey on a lichen encrusted rock that stuck around until after she had finished consuming the small rodent she had captured before I found her. I took several hundred images of her while she ate her prey and then proceeded to clean off her bill.
I wanted to share just one photo of the kestrel and picked this one of her that was taken the moment she started to lift off from the rock she had been dining on because of the position of her wings, the great eye contact plus the silvery background which is out of focus rabbitbrush. I wish those out of focus grass stems weren’t in front of the rock but there wasn’t much I could do about them.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my American Kestrel photos plus facts and information about this species.
Oh I LOVE a “bazaar” of falcons!! Wonderful shot of an absolutely gorgeous falcon!
I hope you’re feeling better. I’ve found that I’m allergic to dust–the stuff that’s blowing around constantly here. When I’m out hunting with Jack, I have a constant stream of snot, which is a major challenge to control while I’m doing everything else! YAY for long sleeves! ARGH! 🙂
Love your kestrel.
Allergies are truly unpleasant. I hope you can find some relief soon.
She’s a lovely girl. I really like the way each wing seems to be almost acting independently in this shot. Hope you get some allergy relief soon!
“He went that way!” Hope you’re feeling better soon…allergies are mean….
Nice by photo, Mia.
Beautiful birds.