This is the flip side of my recent post of a landing kestrel.
Two days ago I posted a photo of a male American Kestrel as it landed on a rusty old piece of machinery at Farmington Bay WMA. After that shot was taken I left the area but returned almost an hour later and the falcon was still hunting insects from the same perch. This time my goal was takeoff shots and I managed to get one that works well for me.
1/5000, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This is it. I like the stiff-legged push off, the good light on the face with light in the eye, the dappled background colors and patterns and the composition. In this case the horizontal wing position works out well. If I’d caught the wings in a dramatic vertical position I’m sure I’d have clipped them. Readers know how much I hate to do that!
This is almost certainly the same bird as in my previous post. If this handsome fella continues to cooperate with me I may have to come up with a name for him…
Ron
Kesty!
I think it looks like the kestrel is hopping, which Dick related to a diver using a spring board. There is a move in classical Indian Odissi dance called chum that involves pushing up strongly from both legs and feet out of a bent leg position. The move carries exciting and accentuating dance energy to go with the rhythm of the music. From the bird’s perspective this photo captures a hopeful death chum for his prey.
Do raptors actually 2 leggedly hop off their perch? I have certainly seen that their legs are quite involved in the take-off shots you get from their sides and it usually looks like they are pushing equally hard with both legs.
I guess a “hop” is just pushing up HARD with a leg. Is there an English name for a 2 legged hop to distinguish it from a one legged hop?
Funny…
A name? From what I have learned about the American Kestrel I suspect they would prefer a title. ‘Destroyer of All I See’ ‘Killer Majestic’ ‘Magnificent Destroyer’.
It was very generous of this one to allow you the chance to catch him in mid levitation though.
“Mayhem Marvin” – the list goes on.
LOL Ron! Yep, Mayhem and Chaos should always be included in their name! Ms. Princess Chaos and Mayhem…think I might keep that. Skye just doesn’t work for this girl. It’s FAR too tame!
You nailed it Elephant’s Child! They’re fierce–trust me on this! And if things don’t go their way, there is rapid and significant retaliation.
This a most coolamatious shot, Ron! Wow! I like the way the alulae (thanks Teech! 🙂 ) are slightly forward. I wonder if this is common to raptors and other birds or if it’s unique to this little guy. It does seem like he might get more lift this way, but I also wonder if it might be for stabilization as well. I originally thought gymnastics, but I’ll second the motion for Greg Louganis.
We got some much-needed rain yesterday too — yay! It made grooming dogs at the shelter an exercise in futility, but at least the ones who went to the outside part of their kennels smelled like *clean* wet dogs. 😉 The ever-present sparrows were smarter than a lot of the dogs. They came inside the cottages and hung out on the few covered kennels we have, about 30 per.
Marty, the alulae are typically extended whenever air speed is slow – as it would be at the beginning of takeoff. “Coolamatiious” – I like that!
Teaching high school forced me to expand my vocabulary — often beyond the breaking point! (Besides, I ain’t no English teacher! 😉 )
Basically what Susan said with an OH WOW in there for good measure. What a handsome dude! And the intensity…I’ll never get over the intensity they can muster routinely. Makes me feel like a lesser being. Of COURSE, they’ll tell you that’s certainly true with a snort and a DUH 🙂
Yep, handsome and intense sums up kestrels, Laura. Thank you.
I really love this shot. The energy of it captures my attention.
Thanks very much, Arwen.
This shot shows the gracefulness and beauty of the American Kestrel. I love the curves of the wings and tail as well as the leg positions. The britches also show nicely (EC has gotten my eyes trained…)
Elephant’s Child has trained a lot of us, Susan!
Oh, that is a beauty. We were up on the Gravely range road last summer and ran into a group of these guys working. As much as I tried and tried, I could not get any to cooperate. So, again, I am very envious. What a wonderful shot. Just keep showing me up, keep showing me up! Just teasing of coarse, but again, what a great shot!
Frank, Kestrels are skittish by nature even where they’re used to traffic and people. The Gravely Range is so remote (love that area) that I imagine kestrels would be virtually impossible to approach up there.
Hi Ron,
Beautiful! And, my recommended name for the bird is Greg Louganis.
Your image reminds me of a gift I received from a friend a few years ago, a book entitled “Zen Birds”. I give a little talk on why raptors intrigue us and use the passage for American Kestrel which reads:
You ask
My favorite hobby
Skydiving
Thanks, as always, for sharing. 😀
Cheers,
Dick
I remember being transfixed as I watched Louganis dive in the Olympics many years ago.
Beautiful shot Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Wow, Ron – this Kestrel is so spectacular and I LOVE the position that you were able to get in his take off!! Boy I’d love to go out with you and Mia some day just to observe you two in action!! Good luck out in Nature today – can’t wait to see what you photograph!!
There’ll be no “nature” for me today, Jo Ann – other than the rain we’ve been having all morning and it’s forecast to continue. I’m fine with that though – we REALLY need the moisture!
What a beauty!! Great capture Ron….Kestrels are definitely a favorite of mine and it’s always exciting for me when you photograph one. Thanks for all your fantastic images.
It’s exciting for me too, Steve. As I’m sure you know kestrels tend to be very difficult to approach.
Beautiful! 🙂 Nice detail and different position – except for his legs one would think he was hovering. Hope he continues to provide you with opportunities. 🙂
Judy, I’ve found him hunting from this perch on several different mornings now. I’m sure he’ll move on and use different hunting strategies as soon as it’s cold enough to kill off all the active insects.