American Kestrel

This started off as a photo of a very distant black silhouette. At the time, I thought it could be an American Kestrel, a small bird of prey that I don't see very often. Managed to brighten the image to reveal my guess was correct.. Though not a good quality image, I still liked its talons, and posted it for the record. The Kestrel is the smallest of our five falcons and they typically perch on power lines.

"North America’s littlest falcon, the American Kestrel packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body. It's one of the most colorful of all raptors: the male’s slate-blue head and wings contrast elegantly with his rusty-red back and tail; the female has the same warm reddish on her wings, back, and tail. Hunting for insects and other small prey in open territory, kestrels perch on wires or poles, or hover facing into the wind, flapping and adjusting their long tails to stay in place. Kestrels are declining in parts of their range; you can help them by putting up nest boxes." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Kestrel/id

In the afternoon of 19 July 2016, I really wanted to go and check on the family of Mountain Bluebird fledglings, SW of the city. It was also getting uncomfortably warm in my place and I needed to spend a bit of time in the air-conditioning of my car. I only felt like a short drive, after the very enjoyable full day of driving with my daughter the previous day. I discovered that the fledglings had grown up a lot in the three days since I had first seen them - constantly on the move and impossible to photograph.

There were so few birds to be seen in my usual location - the road had been resurfaced in the three days I hadn't been there. Whether that was the reason for the lack of birds, who knows. I did catch a pair of Red-winged Blackbirds and saw a female with a beak full of bright green larvae for her babies. No sign of any WIlson's Snipes. The distant Black Tern baby was still being fed.