Kestrel Part 2

[Ryewolf]

Same Kestrel, same place, different day... Taken over about 45-50 minutes

In case you're wondering how I managed to photograph it, see this last image

[Clicker]

What a fabulous set Rye ... I see he had his lunch with him on the final  pic, how  clever that was  after seeing his perch the day before  to bring him a ready made meal ... ... .. They are some of your best Bird pics ... Stunning captures ...well done you ! You must be very pleased with those ...  was It with the new camera ?

[johntwo]

That's an exceptional set of photographs Geoff.  I'm just jealous.  Good work.

[David995031]

Absolutely magnificent set.

[Denis]

To get a Kestrel in as much detail, and from a wild example is brilliant Geoff. Normally the only time we get to see these close too are in Raptor parks. Big Kudos to you mate, well done.

[Ryewolf]

18 hours ago, Clicker said:

What a fabulous set Rye ... I see he had his lunch with him on the final  pic, how  clever that was  after seeing his perch the day before  to bring him a ready made meal ... ... .. They are some of your best Bird pics ... Stunning captures ...well done you ! You must be very pleased with those ...  was It with the new camera ?

Thanks Clicker. Yes, all taken with the new camera + the Sigma 150-600mm.

5 hours ago, johntwo said:

That's an exceptional set of photographs Geoff.  I'm just jealous.  Good work.

Thanks John.

3 hours ago, David995031 said:

Absolutely magnificent set.

Thanks David.

2 hours ago, Denis said:

To get a Kestrel in as much detail, and from a wild example is brilliant Geoff. Normally the only time we get to see these close too are in Raptor parks. Big Kudos to you mate, well done.

Thanks Denis.

I have a bit of a confession to make and can't take all the credit for these... On Sunday I bumped into a photographer whilst sat near the spot were the Kestrel is perched and he told me that if I hung around the kestrel would turn up and sure enough it did turn up because he'd been feeding it regularly for about 5 years (how he got it come to the perch in the fist place I don't know). The same happened on Monday when I took these, the kestrel would land in the trees behind this perch, he would put food out (in this case rump steak) and it would fly down to this post (it's actually a carved wooden statue of a mole), once it had eaten it would hang around for a few minutes afterwards before flying back to the trees. Each time it would come 3 or 4 times, after that it would be full and would just sit in the trees.

These images were taken from about 15-20ft away, the kestrel is known as Kevin the car park Kestrel, it is still a wild bird but as obviously realised that it can get free food as long as people are quiet..... Is it cheating? Who knows?

[Clicker]

Patience is often rewarded... Kestrels  like owls often have a spot / perch where they   dissect their prey and he may have just been lucky enough to spot it there  the first time  and by rewarding it  regularly  it soon becomes a habit , understandably .  It's not cheating to work in tandem with nature to enjoy it more readily ...  I think the planet would be a much healthier place if that attitude was adopted   between us all and the animal kingdom.    it's a truly stunning set Rye ... 

[Clicker]

By the way Rye , have you noticed that when you quote someone  now the origin  seems to be omitted from it  so it isn't obvious who is being quoted now .... Hmmmm?

[Ryewolf]

35 minutes ago, Clicker said:

have you noticed that when you quote someone  now the origin  seems to be omitted from it  so it isn't obvious who is being quoted now

I hadn't noticed that, all the recent quotes I've done show who I quoted....

[Clicker]

Not in the dark mode  they don't.. the text is maybe the same colour as the background as there is a space there for the name ...

[Clicker]

It looks like the colour is  almost the same as the bg ...if you hover  mouse over the space  you can see who the quoted member is   but it's just the dark mode that  has the issue ...

[Ryewolf]

2 minutes ago, Clicker said:

Not in the dark mode  they don't.. the text is maybe the same colour as the background as there is a space there for the name ...

I hadn't noticed that because of the problems with the dark mode I've been sticking to the white version.

[Clicker]

It still hurts my eyes with the white  mode ... 

 

[Clicker]

If I   dim the white down it messes with the colours of all the  images  so I'm  still on  the dark side ...

[johntwo]

1 hour ago, Ryewolf said:

 

I have a bit of a confession to make and can't take all the credit for these... On Sunday I bumped into a photographer whilst sat near the spot were the Kestrel is perched and he told me that if I hung around the kestrel would turn up and sure enough it did turn up because he'd been feeding it regularly for about 5 years (how he got it come to the perch in the fist place I don't know). The same happened on Monday when I took these, the kestrel would land in the trees behind this perch, he would put food out (in this case rump steak) and it would fly down to this post (it's actually a carved wooden statue of a mole), once it had eaten it would hang around for a few minutes afterwards before flying back to the trees. Each time it would come 3 or 4 times, after that it would be full and would just sit in the trees.

These images were taken from about 15-20ft away, the kestrel is known as Kevin the car park Kestrel, it is still a wild bird but as obviously realised that it can get free food as long as people are quiet..... Is it cheating? Who knows?

 

None of that takes anything away from the quality of the images.

[Clicker]

I absolutely agree John ... SUPERB QUALITY!

[Paul]

Winner winner winner!

Paul.

[FUJI]

It has all been said Rye.....

 

An incredible set.

FUJI

[Ryewolf]

Thanks Paul and FUJI

[Kobione]

Absolutely superb set Rye, makes no difference that you had some help from the other person, you did a great job with your captures anyway - lucky you to watch and record that!!

[Clicker]

Did you use a remote trigger or were you stood at your tripod Rye... No doubt you'll be able to get regular photos  now you know where to find it's regular haunt .... 

[Ryewolf]

Thanks Kobione.

7 hours ago, Clicker said:

Did you use a remote trigger or were you stood at your tripod Rye...

Neither they were all done handheld.

[Clicker]

Because you said you’d taken them over 50 minutes and each one is has the post at exactly the same angle I just couldn’t see how you could be stood in the same place for that amount of time .... holding the camera at  what appears to be precisely the same angle ...  I was sure you must have had it on a tripod   ... unless all these pics are from the same   multi burst . I ‘m a bit nonplussed  ... 

 

 

 

[Ryewolf]

47 minutes ago, Clicker said:

Because you said you’d taken them over 50 minutes and each one is has the post at exactly the same angle I just couldn’t see how you could be stood in the same place for that amount of time .... holding the camera at  what appears to be precisely the same angle ...  I was sure you must have had it on a tripod   ... unless all these pics are from the same   multi burst . I ‘m a bit nonplussed  ... 

Thanks Clicker, I did move for each time it landed on the post, on this particular day I think it was 3 times that it came down, although I only moved about 6-7ft in total. In image one you've got the tree line visible behind the post, for images 2 I moved to my right,  for 3 and 4 I moved again, same for 5 and 6. The Kestrel was only on the post for about 3 minutes each time (the rest of the time it was sat in the trees), so the small movements gave me different backgrounds but the angle of the post didn't really change that much. Plus there were two other toggers so I didn't want them in my field of view, or me in theirs.

This little diagram might help, the black square was where the kestrel was in the trees, the blue square is the perch, the pink square is where I was standing and the red lines are the inward and outward flight paths. So I was probably only handholding the big Sigma for 9 minutes over the 50 minutes...

 

[Clicker]

That’s fascinating isn’t it ... well thanks for that very in depth answer ... I really thought you must have had the camera on a tripod in the same place for that post to be captured at what seemed to be the same angle each time .. you must be really pleased with the results ...they are fabulous ... what a pretty bird the kestrel  is . Awesome stuff my friend ... btw ... love that last pic with that head on view looking straight at ya !!