AOM continues to thrive.
1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Soon after sunrise two days ago I found this male American Kestrel perched atop one of the pavilions on Antelope Island. I immediately wondered if he was the same banded male kestrel whose band lettering I’d reported to Hawkwatch International on February 1 of this year but I doubted that I’d ever know, for two reasons:
- This kestrel was far away so even if he was banded (which I couldn’t tell at this distance through my lens) I wouldn’t be able to read the letters/numbers.
- That morning I’d seen three different kestrels on the island so I couldn’t ‘assume’ that just because I saw a male kestrel it was the same one I’d reported to HWI.
So since this bird was far away, he wasn’t doing anything interesting and I wasn’t fond of his perch, I eventually left him and drove on down the road to look for other birds.
1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
21 minutes later I came back to the same pavilion. He was still there but now he had prey in his talons – a vole. This time I could (barely) tell he was banded on at least one leg and I took many photos of him while he was eating the vole but I couldn’t read the band numbers/letters.
Then he did something completely unexpected and more than a little puzzling.
1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
While he still had most of the vole left, he took off toward me and landed on the ground about halfway between me and the pavilion, which put him much closer to me. He left the vole behind and the force of his takeoff pushed it behind him so I presume the vole rolled partway down the back side of the roof because I could no longer see it.
A split second before this photo was taken I could still see the vole.
1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
When he landed on the ground in front of me I could tell by his frantic behavior that he was trying to catch some kind of prey, but whatever it was I never saw it and he never caught it. I have no idea why he left prey in the hand (foot) to chase elusive prey on the ground, but that’s exactly what he did.
I got 15 photos of him while he was on the ground but in most of them he had his back to me so I couldn’t tell in the field if he was banded or not.
1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
But I got lucky on this one shot. I not only could tell for sure that he was banded on both legs, I could actually read the lettering on the larger green band on his left leg. And that’s all I needed, especially in combination with the silver USGS band on his right leg.
Sure enough, he’s my old friend “AOM”, the same male kestrel I reported to Jesse Watson at HWI on February 1. He still has vole bits on his lower mandible.
Here’s the photo I sent to Jesse two weeks ago.
Without a doubt, they’re the same bird. Jesse requested that I report any “further re-sightings” of this bird so that’s what I’ll do later today.
Jesse also wants to know if this fairly young bird will finally breed this year and two days ago I witnessed some circumstantial evidence suggesting that he’s in the process of pairing up with a female, so I’ll report that to Jesse too.
I’m not fond of photographing banded birds (or, more importantly, of banding in general) but since banding is a necessary evil for the welfare of birds, I’ll try to squeeze all the ‘good’ out of it we can get.
Ron
Note: I published this post nearly half an hour ago and WordPress still hasn’t sent out the post email to my blog subscribers. Usually it’s sent out immediately. I hope they get their act together soon but at this point it’s not looking promising.
Update: Finally, the post email arrived at 6:13 AM. Better late than never. but on time would have been much better.
“Sigh. I’m so tired of voles. Oh look! A yummy something on the ground! I will catch it. Maybe it is a grasshopper. Crunchy would be welcomed. And, I might as well let the paparazzi see me. I do look good in pictures. “
AOM
In addition to your Kingfisher pals from several years ago, you now have a Kestrel buddy. They definitely know who are the “gooduns!” 😃 (Apparently, this young dude has never heard, “A vole in the talon is worth…”)
Happy Valleytines to everyone! 💜
Marty, those old kingfisher pals from the past have been making themselves scarce for far too long. I miss them.
Me too!
I love this so much. It is from observing birds that I’ve learned that we’re all creatures of habit.
Good. Thanks, Susan.
It’s interesting that he left the caught prey behind to try for something new. I wonder if he had already eaten his favorite bits and decided a new vole would be better? I’m glad he did though – that takeoff shot is impressive. Kestrels being so small and agile, I don’t really think about how powerful they are for their size – that photo really shows it off.
“I wonder if he had already eaten his favorite bits and decided a new vole would be better?”
That’s a possibility, Bill. If so, it suggests that prey is plentiful and that would be a good thing.
Another wonderful series. Did you happen to see if he went back for the vole he let fall out of his “hand.” Or did he suffer what that old adage cautions against?
Kent, when he flew off the ground he left the area. At least for the moment.
I know this is a silly comment, but it is like you are friends now..because I am sure he is aware of you. Beautiful photos.
Take Care,
Kaye
Kaye, it isn’t silly to me. I do kind of think of him as a friend.
Ron, That’s great that you ran into the same Kestrel again. I’m sure you will be keeping an eye out for him now !! What was the approximate distance between the two sightings ? I’m interested to know his range.
Thanks, Gary. The distance between the two sightings was approximately 1/2 mile.
Nice work Ron! Good to see more photos of AOM again.
A real mystery as to why he would abandon the meal in favor of pursuing whatever it was on the ground. Would love to know.
Hope the story, along with more photos, are in our future.
“Would love to know.”
So would I, Michael. I could guess (which is what I did in my response to Judy below) but that’s all it would be, a wild guess.
What fun to be able to find “your” banded bird again! 🙂 Appears he had a good breakfast BUT this time of year “insurance” never hurts…. 😉
Judy, maybe he planned on catching the new prey and also going back to the vole. Then he’d have both…
Sensational series!
Thanks, Charlotte.
Boy AOM came through for you perfectly. Like you I don’t really like the idea of banding birds and even thought of that while I banded a kestrel with Game and Fish a few years back, but I do understand the value of being able to track birds as they travel to have a better understanding of how large their territories are etc.
Very interesting post and photos.
Thanks, Everett. My feelings regarding bird banding are definitely mixed.
I’m glad that you got a successful, confirmed re-sighting of this
beautiful young guy– and the fact that he’s got a “Valentine” in
his future–at least that he’s thinking about it– is a good sign !
Now– let’s hope she’s receptive to BE his valentine– that’s how
it works with birds, right ?
Yup, that’s how it works Kris. But he’s a handsome devil so I think his chances are pretty good… 🙂
It’s neat that you are now able to follow this bird as an individual. Hooray that he is successfully hunting and maybe thinking of a mate on this Valentine’s Day! 💟😊
I’d forgotten that it’s Valentines Day. Thanks for the reminder, Carolyn.
This is so interesting, thanks for this Ron!
Angela
Thanks, Angela.