American Kestrel

[David Salem]

I hope everyone has been well.

We've had a rather slow season out west this year. The beginning of the season started off pretty normal with a handful of Kestrels, Shrikes and Phoebe's hunting dragonflies and crickets, but the time the first cold weather hit, everything left in a hurry. Only a few Red-tailed Hawks and Harriers were left for the duration of the season. It's been unusually slow all over the south west according to reports from other friends. I Hope we get a better migration next year!!

This was taken at the very beginning of the season and unfortunately this cooperative female didn't stick around for long. Fortunatly I got a couple good ones of her before she split.

D5---850mm---f5.6---ss1/4000th---ISO640---Handheld from truck@ 7:45am---50% crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it.

David