Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
Place: Bosque del Apache, NM, USA
Date: December 2003
Equipment: Nikon N90S, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8 & TC20E (= 600/5.6), monopod from car
Film: Fujichrome Sensia 100
Exposure: aperture priority matrix metered, fill flash @ -1.7
Scan: Minolta Dimage, 70% of original frame

Commentary: Instead of spending my time at the crane pools and corn field for flying geese and cranes, I like to cruise both loop roads and look for things other people don't see. Kestrels are seen all over the refuge, but their small size and stand-off manner usually makes them difficult to photograph. This bird kept returning to one of two signs near the start of the Marsh Loop and allowed me to move my car into a decent shooting position. The strong backlighting forced me to use fill flash.

I've chosen to not clone out the extra catchlight or whiteweash; but they could be easily removed.