Adult American Kestrel female grasping her prey – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
Three days ago I had one minute with a beautiful adult female American Kestrel and her partially eaten prey at Farmington Bay WMA. I spotted her in front of a large greasewood perched on a sign post and took a nice series of photos of her. The small rusty-colored female falcon was grasping the vole she had caught in her talons plus a few times she grasped it in her bill.
I liked this photo because it appeared that the female kestrel was looking at her prey while giving me a sideways look.
Adult female American Kestrel with prey in her talons – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
The greasewood in the background might be a bit messy however I think the kestrel stands out well.
Not long after I took this second photo the kestrel turned her back towards me, lifted off with her prey and flew towards another perch to finish eating her breakfast without an audience. I’m happy that I had a minute with her.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my American Kestrel photos plus facts and information about this species.
Great pics of a Kestrel taking a lunch break. Love the colors and composition of the shots. Thanks Mia.
She’s an exceptionally pretty member of her species. Grateful to the little vole (and those before it) for helping to keep this beauty alive and fed.
Good to see so many voles this year too!
I am very glad that you had that minute with her too. The vole probably was not.
Great photos.
Mia, are you concerned that you might have been too close to the kestrel and thus might have affected her behavior?
Tom
Thomas, I was quite a distance from her and these images are both large crops. I’m not saying that my being there didn’t affect her behavior, it may have, but I didn’t get closer to her than I did because I didn’t want to bother her. Additionally, she was right next to a large parking lot with traffic coming and going and that may have had an effect as well.
Mia, thanks for the quick response. Personally, I always worry when I think I might have “spooked” a bird and it just raised a note of concern on my part…sounds like you did everything right! I envy your living in a place where such an amazing raptor right on the edge of a parking lot! Thanks again for your wonderful blog: my wife and I look forward to it every day.