Falcons are intelligent birds of prey with pointed wings, notches in their bills called a tomial tooth, nostrils that baffle air and they are all diurnal.
I photographed this male American Kestrel a few days ago at Farmington Bay WMA as it flew out of a nest box.
Last winter I photographed this lovely little female American Kestrel at Farmington Bay WMA after a snow fall as she perched on a "Waterfowl Resting Area" sign.
Male American Kestrels usually grab the show with their bright colors and bold patterns but I think the females are equally as stunning.
I don't often have the opportunity to photograph Merlins so I was plenty excited to find one yesterday on the South Valley Road in the Centennial Valley that stuck around for a bit!
This coming Saturday, August 8, 2015, is the date 0f the annual Spider Festival on Antelope Island State Park and there should be plenty of spiders to be seen, almost a bumper crop of them!
This could be the seventh record of a Gyrfalcon in Utah, we will have to wait and see if it accepted. I hope the bird sticks around so that other people can see it.
I spent the yesterday morning photographing with two great friends at Antelope Island State Park and Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area and had a wonderful time.
I've been seeing plenty of American Kestrels lately but none have been close enough to get nice images of so I pulled this one out of my archives from 2010.
I saw a fleeting glimpse of a bird a few days ago that I suspect was a Merlin that migrated to winter here in Utah and it inspired me to post a few Merlin images today.
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to photograph a Merlin two mornings in a row in the Centennial Valley of Montana, once in low light and once as a fog rolled in.
Just a short Merlin post today from my Montana trip, a teaser for the images I will soon be posting.
American Kestrels are year round residents in Utah and when the cold sets in they are less skittish and will allow closer approaches.
Today I am focusing on older posts that have raptors in them starting with Prairie Falcons then Swainson's Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks and Bald Eagles
American Kestrels are a challenge to photograph when they are in flight or lifting off because they move so quickly and in low light it can be even harder.
I know a lot of people are suffering because of the heat of summer so I though I would post an image of a male American Kestrel perched on a frosty Rabbitbrush.
In the fall of 2011 I enjoyed being able to photograph this first year Prairie Falcon several times close to the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
I have always liked this American Kestrel image because of the pose and how the female kestrel appears to be peeking at me while she preened.
Last month while camping near Capitol Reef National Park I was delighted to find a Peregrine Falcon feeding on prey near some Sandhill Cranes in a field that I had been photographing.
The term "Banking" in my title doesn't mean this female American Kestrel is heading to the closest ATM or to a local branch of Wells Fargo because this little beauty doesn't care one cent about money!
American Kestrels are fascinating falcons, they are tiny, colorful and at times quite pugnacious.
In the four and a half years I have been in Utah I have seen and photographed four escaped falconry birds, one in 2009, two in 2012 and yesterday I photographed another one, an escaped White Gyrfalcon.
I was going to do a post about a Bald Eagle this morning but at the last minute had a change of mind and decided to work up this male American Kestrel that I photographed resting near the shore of the Great Salt Lake.
The American Kestrel had just finished devouring a small bird of some sort, I really couldn't tell what it was because there were only a few small feathers left by the time I spotted the tiny falcon and when we stopped to photographer her.
I normally see American Kestrels with voles as prey but seeing her with the American Pipit once again showed me why American Kestrels used to be called Sparrow Hawks which is why some people probably still use that name.
I would describe American Kestrels as tiny but tough, they are North America's smallest falcon but I don't think that hinders them at all.
Hovering Kestrel shots aren't easy to capture without baiting or using decoys, part of that is because I can't tell when a kestrel might get it in its mind to hover for prey, the other part is being in the right place at the right time.
A few days ago I spotted this female American Kestrel on the road to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, and I do mean in the road. She almost didn't move even when the pickup was 20 feet from her as we rolled to a stop.
Male American Kestrel in low light
I came across this American Kestrel image yesterday while moving images to a new external hard drive and realized I hadn't edited any of the photos in the series yet, so I did.
2012 was a fantastic year for me as a photographer and I am looking forward to the joys that 2013 will bring. Happy New Year to all.