American Kestrel

SCraig · May 25, 2013

No, I didn't buy a 2000mm lens although I do wish I had one from time to time. These were shot with my 70-300 at MINIMUM focus distance. This American Kestrel is one of the performers at the Tennessee Renaissance Festival and was sitting in a tent with his friends posing for the photographers. Look closely on the first one and you can see my reflection in his eye.

This was shot with natural light because the Kestrels were right at the front of the tent. I did shoot some of the others with a flash (after first asking their owner if it was alright) and it didn't bother them in the slightest which really surprised me. I guess they are used to it.

The Kestrel is a very small bird, probably about the same size as a large Robin, so these are slightly larger than life size.

MSnowy · May 25, 2013

Nice set. I've been trying to get one in the near by field, but they are very elusive.

oldhippy · May 25, 2013

Your da man. Great shots.

cgipson1 · May 25, 2013

Beautiful!

SCraig · May 25, 2013

MSnowy said:
Nice set. I've been trying to get one in the near by field, but they are very elusive.

I've never seen one in the wild, at least not that I noticed. They supposedly live around here all year though.

These people are a raptor rescue group and they take in a lot of birds. They bring a group of them to the Renaissance Festival each year and put on a show with some of them. Many of them are unsuitable for release, for whatever reason, but they all appear to be very well-fed and cared for so they have a pretty good life.

SCraig · May 25, 2013

oldhippy said:
Your da man. Great shots.

Thanks, Ed. These were easy! They weren't going anywhere and were shot at about 5' distance.

cgipson1 said:
Beautiful!

Thanks, Charlie. I don't know about the photos but the birds are indeed beautiful

coastalconn · May 25, 2013

Nice shots Scott!... I have yet to see a Kestrel up here in CT, but I would love to get one some day...

DarkShadow · May 25, 2013

Wow wee scott fantastic shots.Thats a frame it hang it pictures.

SCraig · May 26, 2013

coastalconn said:
Nice shots Scott!... I have yet to see a Kestrel up here in CT, but I would love to get one some day...

Thanks, Kris. They are absolutely beautiful birds and I would love to see one in the wild as well. They are of the Falcon family and are the smallest North American Falcon (which also makes them the smallest North American raptor) but are unbelievably fast and nimble in the air.

DarkShadow said:
Wow wee scott fantastic shots.Thats a frame it hang it pictures.

Thanks, Dave. I would print them but to me it's almost like cheating. I love to photograph birds, but shooting them when they are captive takes a lot of the sport out of it. These were all tethered to individual perches so they weren't going anywhere, and to be honest they didn't look very inclined to try and get away. In fact they seemed perfectly content to sit there and be photographed.

DarkShadow · May 26, 2013

coastalconn said:
Nice shots Scott!... I have yet to see a Kestrel up here in CT, but I would love to get one some day...

But you have all the other birds in your yard so I imagine it's just probably a matter of time. Maybe you have to turn up your bird call speakers the volume may be to low. TN is a long way from CT so a couple of decibels more maybe :lol:

sm4him · May 26, 2013

Wow, great shots! They may have been captive, but you did an awesome job with these nonetheless.

I've seen them in the wild here; probably seen three or four of them since the first of this year, but I have yet to get any really decent shots of them. As Snowy said, they're so elusive, and so small--one can fly off just a little ways from you and if you're not really paying attention, you don't realize what it is. I've almost mistaken them for doves, or even Northern Flickers, before if I can't see them well.

SCraig said:
Thanks, Dave. I would print them but to me it's almost like cheating. I love to photograph birds, but shooting them when they are captive takes a lot of the sport out of it. These were all tethered to individual perches so they weren't going anywhere, and to be honest they didn't look very inclined to try and get away. In fact they seemed perfectly content to sit there and be photographed.

I know exactly what you mean. I've got several birds that I haven't put in my "100 Birds in One Year" list because I didn't shoot them in the wild. Although, I must admit, if I get to the end of the year and only have 98 birds, my feelings about this may change. :lol:

SCraig · May 26, 2013

sm4him said:
Wow, great shots! They may have been captive, but you did an awesome job with these nonetheless.

Thanks, they are beautiful birds. Next year I'm going to try to remember to take my 17-70 since it's a bit sharper than my 70-300. Plus I can get closer than 5'.

I've seen them in the wild here; probably seen three or four of them since the first of this year, but I have yet to get any really decent shots of them. As Snowy said, they're so elusive, and so small--one can fly off just a little ways from you and if you're not really paying attention, you don't realize what it is. I've almost mistaken them for doves, or even Northern Flickers, before if I can't see them well.

I think that if I had seen one I would have wondered what it was. All of the doves around here are either neutral gray or sandy brown, but the size is about right. I've never seen a Northern Flicker so I'd have wondered about that as well. I don't recognize many species of birds, so I spend a lot of time looking them up

I know exactly what you mean. I've got several birds that I haven't put in my "100 Birds in One Year" list because I didn't shoot them in the wild. Although, I must admit, if I get to the end of the year and only have 98 birds, my feelings about this may change.

Yeah, end of year deadlines do loosen up restrictions. As long as the bird was in Tennessee and the bars of the cage didn't show too badly I'd be tempted to use it.