# American Kestrel



## SCraig (May 25, 2013)

No, I didn't buy a 2000mm lens although I do wish I had one from time to time.  These were shot with my 70-300 at MINIMUM focus distance.  This American Kestrel is one of the performers at the Tennessee Renaissance Festival and was sitting in a tent with his friends posing for the photographers.  Look closely on the first one and you can see my reflection in his eye.

This was shot with natural light because the Kestrels were right at the front of the tent.  I did shoot some of the others with a flash (after first asking their owner if it was alright) and it didn't bother them in the slightest which really surprised me.  I guess they are used to it.

The Kestrel is a very small bird, probably about the same size as a large Robin, so these are slightly larger than life size.


----------



## MSnowy (May 25, 2013)

Nice set. I've been trying to get one in the near by field, but they are very elusive.


----------



## oldhippy (May 25, 2013)

Your da man. Great shots.


----------



## cgipson1 (May 25, 2013)

Beautiful!


----------



## SCraig (May 25, 2013)

MSnowy said:


> Nice set. I've been trying to get one in the near by field, but they are very elusive.



I've never seen one in the wild, at least not that I noticed.  They supposedly live around here all year though.

These people are a raptor rescue group and they take in a lot of birds.  They bring a group of them to the Renaissance Festival each year and put on a show with some of them.  Many of them are unsuitable for release, for whatever reason, but they all appear to be very well-fed and cared for so they have a pretty good life.


----------



## SCraig (May 25, 2013)

oldhippy said:


> Your da man. Great shots.


Thanks, Ed.  These were easy!  They weren't going anywhere and were shot at about 5' distance.



cgipson1 said:


> Beautiful!


Thanks, Charlie.  I don't know about the photos but the birds are indeed beautiful


----------



## coastalconn (May 25, 2013)

Nice shots Scott!...  I have yet to see a Kestrel up here in CT, but I would love to get one some day...


----------



## DarkShadow (May 25, 2013)

Wow wee scott fantastic shots.Thats a frame it hang it pictures.


----------



## SCraig (May 26, 2013)

coastalconn said:


> Nice shots Scott!...  I have yet to see a Kestrel up here in CT, but I would love to get one some day...


Thanks, Kris.  They are absolutely beautiful birds and I would love to see one in the wild as well.  They are of the Falcon family and are the smallest North American Falcon (which also makes them the smallest North American raptor) but are unbelievably fast and nimble in the air. 



DarkShadow said:


> Wow wee scott fantastic shots.Thats a frame it hang it pictures.


Thanks, Dave.  I would print them but to me it's almost like cheating.  I love to photograph birds, but shooting them when they are captive takes a lot of the sport out of it.  These were all tethered to individual perches so they weren't going anywhere, and to be honest they didn't look very inclined to try and get away.  In fact they seemed perfectly content to sit there and be photographed.


----------



## DarkShadow (May 26, 2013)

coastalconn said:


> Nice shots Scott!...  I have yet to see a Kestrel up here in CT, but I would love to get one some day...


But you have all the other birds in your yard so I imagine it's just probably a matter of time. Maybe you have to turn up your bird call speakers the volume may be to low. TN is a long way from CT so a couple of decibels more maybe


----------



## sm4him (May 26, 2013)

Wow, great shots!  They may have been captive, but you did an awesome job with these nonetheless.

I've seen them in the wild here; probably seen three or four of them since the first of this year, but I have yet to get any really decent shots of them. As Snowy said, they're so elusive, and so small--one can fly off just a little ways from you and if you're not really paying attention, you don't realize what it is. I've almost mistaken them for doves, or even Northern Flickers, before if I can't see them well.



SCraig said:


> Thanks, Dave.  I would print them but to me it's almost like cheating.  I love to photograph birds, but shooting them when they are captive takes a lot of the sport out of it.  These were all tethered to individual perches so they weren't going anywhere, and to be honest they didn't look very inclined to try and get away.  In fact they seemed perfectly content to sit there and be photographed.



I know exactly what you mean.  I've got several birds that I haven't put in my "100 Birds in One Year" list because I didn't shoot them in the wild.  Although, I must admit, if I get to the end of the year and only have 98 birds, my feelings about this may change.


----------



## SCraig (May 26, 2013)

sm4him said:


> Wow, great shots!  They may have been captive, but you did an awesome job with these nonetheless.


Thanks, they are beautiful birds.  Next year I'm going to try to remember to take my 17-70 since it's a bit sharper than my 70-300.  Plus I can get closer than 5'.



> I've seen them in the wild here; probably seen three or four of them since the first of this year, but I have yet to get any really decent shots of them. As Snowy said, they're so elusive, and so small--one can fly off just a little ways from you and if you're not really paying attention, you don't realize what it is. I've almost mistaken them for doves, or even Northern Flickers, before if I can't see them well.


I think that if I had seen one I would have wondered what it was.  All of the doves around here are either neutral gray or sandy brown, but the size is about right.  I've never seen a Northern Flicker so I'd have wondered about that as well.  I don't recognize many species of birds, so I spend a lot of time looking them up 



> I know exactly what you mean.  I've got several birds that I haven't put in my "100 Birds in One Year" list because I didn't shoot them in the wild.  Although, I must admit, if I get to the end of the year and only have 98 birds, my feelings about this may change.


Yeah, end of year deadlines do loosen up restrictions.  As long as the bird was in Tennessee and the bars of the cage didn't show too badly I'd be tempted to use it.


----------



## manicmike (May 26, 2013)

Great shots. That's a gorgeous bird.


----------



## SCraig (May 26, 2013)

manicmike said:


> Great shots. That's a gorgeous bird.



They really are gorgeous little birds.  Here's a shot of the whole bird from last year:


----------



## compassrose (May 27, 2013)

Nice! You were the second thing I noticed.


----------



## SCraig (May 27, 2013)

compassrose said:


> Nice! You were the second thing I noticed.


Thanks!  I did put his eye where it would draw the viewer's eyes 

What part of Tennessee are you in?  There are several members here across the state.


----------



## jedirunner (May 27, 2013)

Love the clarity.  Which 70-300 are you shooting with?  Those are amazing.

Kevin


----------



## SCraig (May 27, 2013)

jedirunner said:


> Love the clarity.  Which 70-300 are you shooting with?  Those are amazing.
> 
> Kevin



Thanks!  The lens is the Nikkor 70-300 "G" lens.  I've had it for several years now and would be lost without it.


----------



## Radical (May 27, 2013)

Beutiful Bird.


----------



## SCraig (May 27, 2013)

Radical said:


> Beutiful Bird.


Agreed!  He is a gorgeous little one.


----------



## JacaRanda (May 28, 2013)

Very nice shots Mr. Scott.  I am fortunate to have them here in Southern California, specifically at Bolsa Chica Wetlands.  The sad part is that I have not been happy with my shots of them.  That darned lack of length thingy is MAJORLY bugging me!  I am just about to do something my wife may call crazy; like eating Top Ramen noodles for the rest of my life to make up for .......................!!!!


----------



## SCraig (May 28, 2013)

JacaRanda said:


> Very nice shots Mr. Scott.  I am fortunate to have them here in Southern California, specifically at Bolsa Chica Wetlands.  The sad part is that I have not been happy with my shots of them.  That darned lack of length thingy is MAJORLY bugging me!  I am just about to do something my wife may call crazy; like eating Top Ramen noodles for the rest of my life to make up for .......................!!!!



Well, there's no end to the quest for longer lenses.  I have a 150-500 and it's frequently not long enough because I tend to shoot over a couple of different lakes a lot.  If the critters are on the opposite side of the lake they could be in another state by the time I got over there.

The best thing to do when it's possible is get them to come to you.  Throw out some seed or other food and they will come closer (if I do that at one of the lakes I frequent it's a $200 fine though).  A zoo is also good for shots since the subjects are frequently very close.  This little guy wasn't in a zoo but he wasn't going anywhere either so I could have gotten closer if I had another lens with me.


----------



## ktan7 (May 28, 2013)

Great close up close!


----------



## JacaRanda (May 28, 2013)

SCraig said:


> JacaRanda said:
> 
> 
> > Very nice shots Mr. Scott. I am fortunate to have them here in Southern California, specifically at Bolsa Chica Wetlands. The sad part is that I have not been happy with my shots of them. That darned lack of length thingy is MAJORLY bugging me! I am just about to do something my wife may call crazy; like eating Top Ramen noodles for the rest of my life to make up for .......................!!!!
> ...



Indeed!  We do our little cheating now with bird seed in front of our patio.  However, most often we are in state or county parks that frown upon feeding the wildlife.  We even let people know that feeding bread and crackers to geese, ducks etc. could really screw the whole thing up for all of us.  Canadian Geese that don't fly back to Canada can be and has been a problem in the area.  

Anyways,  I am seriously looking at that 150-500 Sigma.


----------



## SCraig (May 28, 2013)

ktan7 said:


> Great close up close!


Thank you.  Much appreciated.



JacaRanda said:


> Indeed!  We do our little cheating now with bird seed in front of our patio.  However, most often we are in state or county parks that frown upon feeding the wildlife.  We even let people know that feeding bread and crackers to geese, ducks etc. could really screw the whole thing up for all of us.  Canadian Geese that don't fly back to Canada can be and has been a problem in the area.
> 
> Anyways,  I am seriously looking at that 150-500 Sigma.



Same here.  Most of the time I'm in a state or national park when I'm looking for birds.  I have a couple of feeders here at home and occasionally see something worthwhile there, but most of the time it's sparrows, robins, or doves.  Oh, and squirrels 

I've had good luck with my 150-500 Sigma.   Some have not had good luck with them, but I've had no complaints with mine.  Give it enough light and it works great but it doesn't like dim conditions.  If the light is gray and flat the images are really soft contrast.  I usually just leave it at home on days like that.


----------

