![\"american](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/american-kestrel-5400-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAmerican Kestrels have long been North America’s most abundant bird of prey but over recent decades their numbers have declined precipitously.\u00a0 The Peregrine Fund’s American Kestrel Partnership estimates that their numbers have plummeted by 88% in the New England\/Mid-Atlantic states and 47% overall across North America since 1966.\u00a0 For that reason I\u00a0pay\u00a0particular\u00a0notice to\u00a0kestrel numbers when I return to the same area year after year and because I spend so much time in southwest Montana that region is near the top of my “kestrel watching” areas.\u00a0 This past summer I spent about\u00a014 days in that\u00a0part of Big Sky Country spread out over three different camping trips (May,\u00a0July and September) and as always I\u00a0was especially cognizant of\u00a0the kestrels I encountered.<\/p>\n
My observations were of course unscientific, anecdotal and spotty.\u00a0 I have no actual numbers to report but overall I was slightly encouraged.\u00a0 I’ve been making multiple trips to the area for 6 years now and there have been times\u00a0I’ve been alarmed by the scarcity of kestrels but\u00a0my most recent visit\u00a0early last month produced noticeably\u00a0more kestrel sightings than usual.\u00a0 I suspect\u00a0that’s partly due to the timing of the trip\u00a0near the end of the kestrel breeding season since I did see many\u00a0apparent juveniles\u00a0(based largely on behavior).<\/p>\n
Following are three\u00a0American Kestrel images taken last month at Red Rock Lakes\u00a0National Wildlife Refuge and the Centennial Valley.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This female let me\u00a0approach closely (for a kestrel at least)\u00a0because she had prey but as you can see she was quite wary of me and my pickup.\u00a0 She never did relax to the point that she fed comfortably and soon flew off with\u00a0her meal.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, canvas added for composition<\/em><\/strong>, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0This beautiful male gave me a nice flight pose in good light but he was much too far away for quality images.\u00a0 I find flight shots of kestrels to be particularly challenging.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This male had just finished a delicious meal of grasshopper and was cleaning his beak of leftovers.<\/p>\n These three birds were as close as I came to photographic success with kestrels on this last trip, partly because the Centennial Valley is truly a wild place and the kestrels are appropriately wild themselves\u00a0so they\u00a0rarely allow a close approach.\u00a0 But I saw a bunch of them over 6 days – many individuals and some\u00a0that were apparently still\u00a0in family groups after the nesting season.<\/p>\n And I couldn’t be happier about that.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" American Kestrels have long been North America’s most abundant bird of prey but over recent decades their numbers have declined precipitously. For that reason I pay particular notice to kestrel numbers when I return to the same area year after year and because I spend so much time in southwest Montana that region is near the top of my “kestrel watching” areas.<\/p>\n![\"american](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/american-kestrel-5340-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"american](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/american-kestral-5386-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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