Kestrels

IT is, not sure if sea eagles had been reintroduced back then, best photo of a peregrine I ever saw was one hunting grouse, in one frame it'd hit one and that was tumbling to the ground just as it hit a second, photo of a lifetime

Had the pleasure of seeing two Peregrines this year, quite a sight and a lot smaller than you'd think.
 
I've been a birder my whole life but really love raptors, we have a fine variety around here and I can sit and watch them for hours. Recently I've been noticing a lot of torn up starlings over the yard, mainly feathers, blood and the odd head and figured it was a gosshawk or something middling in size as we've had them before.I came home for lunch today , just as I pulled in I see this starling take off and out of the blue a kestrel appeared in a full dive and exploded that fucking starling, took it to the ground and pulled it apart, the starling schreeching really loud. The American Kestrel is smaller than the european one, beautifully coloured and well ard!

Just wanted to share my story :)

The american Kestrel is an awesome predator to watch, they are quite mesmerizing in a chase.
I just went out to scare the pigeons off my feeder and a coopers hawk came out of nowhere and took one of them mid take off, it was really cool as I was only ten feet away!
 
Didn't they used to have kestrel nesting in the town hall tower in Albert sq to keep the pigeons down or did I just dream that up?
 
Didn't they used to have kestrel nesting in the town hall tower in Albert sq to keep the pigeons down or did I just dream that up?


It would probably have been a peregrine, kestrels in this country mostly feed on small rodents living in long grass, which is why you never see Gary Neville in a meadow.
 
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"It's proper bo' I tell thee!" ... Bo Selecta - The Craig David

 
that is true, but I haven't a clue why they hover at the side of a motorway.
Anyone know why?

Maybe I'm being Clarkied here but I'll bite... you don't maybe think it might be something to do with the embankments of long grass at the side of the motorway?
 
When we lived in Catalonia a mate of mine sold his property to a guy who used to hunt and do shows with Harris hawks. Whilst he was showing us his hawks and in a spontanious moment of pure stupidity I put a tiny piece of chicken on the tip of my nose and watched as this hawk, I'd never been so close to one in my life nor since, pick it off. Dont know what made me do it, I suppose it was such a feeling of total trust in the bird. Fantastic creatures.
 

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