{"id":14861,"date":"2013-04-30T05:52:24","date_gmt":"2013-04-30T11:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=14861"},"modified":"2013-04-30T06:47:27","modified_gmt":"2013-04-30T12:47:27","slug":"a-plucky-female-american-kestrel-saves-my-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/30\/a-plucky-female-american-kestrel-saves-my-day\/","title":{"rendered":"A Plucky Female American Kestrel Saves My Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

During our camping trip to the west desert last week we decided to pay a visit to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge.\u00a0 This refuge has to be one of the most remote\u00a0in the National Wildlife Refuge system but that fact is a major part of what appeals to me about\u00a0the place.\u00a0 Once you leave the\u00a0pavement, access from the east means 63 miles of rough dirt\/gravel roads just\u00a0to get there.\u00a0 And in those 126 miles (out and back) the only other vehicles I\u00a0encountered on the road\u00a0were a\u00a0county maintenance crew grading the road, a single ATV and a sheep herder’s pickup pulling a trailer.<\/p>\n

I’ve visited the refuge many times over the years and enjoyed every trip.\u00a0 It truly is a jewel in the desert.<\/p>\n

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\"fish<\/a><\/p>\n

But this\u00a0 time my timing wasn’t good for birds – we were too early.\u00a0 Because of our late spring very few migrants had arrived and those that were there were mostly unapproachable in such a wild and remote place.\u00a0 So I left Fish Springs without any bird photos of note.<\/p>\n

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\"pony<\/a><\/p>\n

This\u00a0shot demonstrates the remoteness of the access road to Fish Springs (the road follows the old Pony Express Trail and locals call traveling this road “Riding the Pony”).\u00a0 About the only living things we encountered in those many miles were these sheep and their sheep herders with attendant dogs\u00a0and horses.<\/p>\n

But it was along this road\u00a0that I was able to get my only decent bird shot of the trip and it happened on the way to <\/em>the refuge (this shot was taken late-morning on the way back).<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

\"american<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite the roughness of the road in spots, for most of the trip I was able to make pretty good time –\u00a0often traveling at about 45 – 50 mph.\u00a0 Suddenly we spotted this female American Kestrel\u00a0perched in the middle of the road in front of us.\u00a0\u00a0 This was the gutsiest kestrel I’ve ever encountered.\u00a0 As I got closer she stood her ground and I had to hit the brakes hard enough that I skidded on the gravel in the road.\u00a0 When I finally stopped, she was still on the road looking at us defiantly.\u00a0 She was so close that I could barely see her over the hood of my pickup and through all the dust thrown up by my skidding stop.<\/p>\n

As I attempted to maneuver my pickup to photograph her on the road she flew off and landed on this piece of rebar sticking up out of an old\u00a0and\u00a0decrepit Pony Express trail marker but she was too far away and the light angle wasn’t the best for decent photos.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

\"american<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a01\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

But then she flew across the road and landed on the ground in a position that gave me a better light angle and I was able to get off three very\u00a0quick\u00a0shots of her before she flew off.\u00a0 She didn’t even give me time to adjust my settings which accounts for\u00a0the high shutter speed and ISO in my\u00a0techs.<\/p>\n

I was surprised to find\u00a0this kestrel where I did.\u00a0 There were no elevated perches (trees, telephone poles, cliffs or anything else) for many miles from this spot.\u00a0 I was also impressed by her pluckiness in refusing to relinquish the road to my speeding pickup as it barreled toward her\u00a0kicking up immense\u00a0clouds of dust.\u00a0 Recently my friend (and raptor authority) Mike Shaw referred to the\u00a0American Kestrel as “Little Big Man”\u00a0because of the well-known fearlessness and aggressiveness of\u00a0this diminutive falcon.\u00a0 Perhaps in this case “Little Big Woman” would be more\u00a0appropriate…<\/p>\n

Sometimes a single bird saves the day for the bird photographer.\u00a0 That was exactly the case last Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes a single bird saves the day for the bird photographer. That was exactly the case last Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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