Lesser Kestrel (female)

[Gerald Kelberg]

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

[Richard Unsworth]

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.

[Doug Brown]

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.

[Gerald Kelberg]

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...

[Doug Brown]

Thanks Gerald!

[Marina Scarr]

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