Kestrel

Mallorcan birds

Kestrel

Firecrest

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat

The last of the photos from the trip to Mallorca show birds that can be seen fairly easily in the U.K., but made to look different by the wall to wall sunshine!

Hopefully, I will be able to get out and do some British birding fairly soon, but the weather on my one day off is not conducive to any sort of photography! Maybe next time the sun will shine.

The Windhover

The Windhover is another name for the Common Kestrel. This bird, once the most common bird of prey in the U.K. is a familiar sight to most people, especially those who do a lot of driving as the bird is frequently seen hovering over roadside verges.

These birds are typically nervous when it comes to human beings and normally fly before I can get anywhere close enough to get a half-decent photo with my little camera, but the other day I saw and heard a pair mating, with the female seemingly nonchalant as to my presence, which enabled me to get the above shots whilst remaining ensconced in my van. The male wasn't as accommodating, staying fairly distant, but still within half-decent range.

The female posed for a bit and then decided to do a bit of hunting right by my window, result!

Okay, not the greatest shots that you will ever see, but I am fairly happy with them!

"I caught this morning morning's minion, king-dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding

Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing. 

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear, 

Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion."

The Windhover by Gerard Mauley Hopkins

Kestrel at sunrise

An early morning stroll along Central Drove, The Nene Washes in freezing, but dry conditions gave me a chance to photograph this obliging Kestrel and even try to to see if my digiscoping gear was still still useful. The images above are all taken with the new(ish) camera and the one below shows the digiscoped effort.

The scene when I reached the end of the drove after the sun had risen at the start of a cold, but perfect winters' day.

Kendal Castle Kestrel

Spent a week-end in the Lake District, mostly in and around Kendal. We didn't really do a lot, just relaxed in the hotel and only ventured out into the cloud and the rain to visit the ruin of Kendal Castle which could be seen from our hotel. The ruin is on top of a pretty steep hill and is very 'ruinous', there not being a lot left of this 14th and 15th century building, home of the Parr family whose most famous member was Katherine Parr, the wife who outlived Henry the Eighth. I took my new camera along, just for the views really, but after climbing the only remaining tower Lisa noticed a male Kestrel hovering below us. I didn't manage to get any sort of shot off at this point, but the bird decided to perch on the ruin and pose beautifully for us. He then hovered a bit more where I managed to get the shots below, not great as he was facing the wrong way and the light was bloomin' awful, but it gave me a chance to see what this hand-held camera could do.