![\"american-kestrel-3069-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/american-kestrel-3069-ron-dudley.jpg\")
1\/1600, 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<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nYesterday morning I spent some time with this pretty little male American Kestrel at Farmington as it hunted from a rusty old gravel separator. It was hunting insects\u00a0on a hillside to the right and sometimes it would return to the same perch after a\u00a0short hunting foray. So I\u00a0prefocused on the place on the perch the kestrel took off from and hoped it would return to the same spot.\u00a0This time it\u00a0did. It was\u00a0without prey but other times it had\u00a0an insect in its beak.<\/p>\n
Here the falcon has just touched down with its wings spread, its tail flared (I wish we could see more of it)\u00a0and its claws about to curl over the edge of the perch. My timing was pretty good on this one to get a\u00a0perfect head turn with eye contact because a millisecond earlier it would have been looking down at the spot where it was about to land and I would have had no eye contact. I also enjoy the pretty good look at the partially open alulae (bastard wings).<\/p>\n
It was\u00a020 degrees F. when I arrived at the refuge so I was a little surprised there were still active insects around for this bird to hunt, but there were. It won’t be long before kestrels will have to rely on voles and the occasional small bird as their only sources of food.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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Photos of birds as they land are a challenge, especially when your subject is a quick little falcon. <\/p>\n