Stephen Barnard is busy documenting the pair of American kestrels (Falco sparverius) occupying a nest box he put on his garage. Today we have photos and a video, with Stephen’s notes indented:
For two days I’ve been trying to get an in-flight shot of a kestrel flying into or out of the nest box. The plan is to set the camera up on a tripod, record 4K video, and crop the photo from a frame. It’s been very difficult. I’ve tried many different camera and lens combinations and locations, shutter speeds, exposures, and so on. Getting sharp focus and no or little motion blur is a challenge.The settings are manual everything. This is my best result so far, but I expect to do better now that I’ve found the right combination.
Another one of Natasha on the wing:
Here’s a link to a funny video. A European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) lands on the nest box, no doubt looking for a nest site (they’re cavity nesters), and gets a rude surprise when she sees Natasha. I’ve recorded two other occasions when starlings landed on the nest box hole. As soon as they see Natasha face-to-face they freak out.
A Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and in all likelihood a Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
Here’s a link to a video I recorded years ago (with primitive gear) of a Great Blue Heron eating something bigger:
Wow ,great pics of the Kestrels .
Starlings used to nest under the roof ,the last 2 years Jackdaws have taken over their nesting site .
Excellent stuff, especially the startled starling! Here is a strange story about the introduction of the starling into N. America:
That all reads as very fishy, but that’s WIKI
Those are lovely shots of the kestrels. I especially like the dorsal feather patterns of the wings in the first shot.
I cracked up at the freaked-out starling and I’m sure glad the heron got that gopher down its hatch. I’d imagine that they must be pretty vulnerable to predators themselves during the time they’re swallowing their large prey.
Fantastic kestrel shots. Thanks for sharing.
Natasha startling the starling.