Oldt1mer - Keith's photos with the keyword: Hover

The amazing European Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus - is a bird of prey also known as the Eurasian Kestrel or Common Kestrel and is the only Kestrel to commonly inhabit the UK. The female is larger than the male weighing around 184 g to the males 155g. Kestrels can be found in a variety of habitats from towns to the open countryside eating voles, mice, shrews and small birds as well as worms and insects with most prey taken from the hover as can be seen here. A little known fact is that Kestrels can see ultraviolet light, meaning that they can detect urine trails left by rodents on the ground enabling the tracking and location of the prey. This female (or possibly a young male), was seen at Martin Mere Wetlands. Explore No 282. 07 March 2023. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.

This is, I think, a female Eristalis pertinax which landed, for a very short time, on a small patch of Ragwort - Senecio jacobaea. The Eristalis is a large genus of around 99 species of Hover and Drone Flies which makes it very difficult to positively identify this one, especially from just the side view. (Maybe someone with more knowledge of this can help?). Common Ragwort is a very widespread 'weed' which grows up to 1m high and is highly attractive to Bees and other insects. Seen by the Leeds-Liverpool Canal near Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.