Kestrel, twice

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

Finally some sun! Had a feeling when I left the farm that I should put my long lens on in case I found some wire sitting birds to photograph. I figured if I took a landscape shot instead I could always switch lenses again - landscapes generally hold still. I found this little guy on the wire - normally they take off as soon as I slow the truck down but he stuck around. I spent almost 20 minutes watching him as we went from wire to tree to hovering (which I missed - blast!) to back to the wire. He let me get quite close and the long winter light was perfect. I am very pleased with these ones. For those who don't know Kestrels are about as big as a robin or smaller - North America's smallest falcon.