Lesser Kestrel (female)

Saw Richard's recent posts of Lesser Kestrels (Falco naumanni) and thought to post one of my own - this one a female.

As Richard has mentioned, these are an endangered species found only in a few locations in Portugal, and much of that from the efforts of the LPN. They are about 10% smaller than the Common Kestrel. Very pretty and an elegant mover.

This shot benefited enormously from the fact that the kestrels were flying in and out from on a bright white building - which made a perfect reflector.

Canon 1D MkIV, EF 500 F/4L IS, Hand held
1/2000 sec @ F5.6 ISO 800
PP in DPP and CS5; Neat Image for NR


Fond memories of an all-too-short visit to Portugal.

Comments and critique appreciated.

Gerald

Nice one Gerald! These are lovely little birds but not easy to capture as you have probably found.
Luckily for me I can go back this week!
Sun is blazing right now 33 and they are very active feeding the young. Light where I go is always going to be crossed though,
the sun tracks across the scene and behind, still I will et some better shots Im sure.
LPN do fantastic work here.

I like the even light, the nice head turn and the sharpness. I'd like to see the bird larger in the frame, and you can also post 1200 pixels wide.

Richard, you are a very lucky man! Mertola is best with the early morning light - and very rewarding.

Thanks Doug, I haven't been posting lately and hadn't caught up with the new image sizes. So here goes...

Thanks Gerald!

What a difference that RP makes!!! Lovely flight pose, composition and I really like that head turn.