Smallest North American Falcon

[gscara]

This American Kestrel is around 8" high and is the smallest of the North American Falcons. These shots were taken with the G1 using my manual focus 300mm FD lens plus a 1.4X converter. The Gods were smiling on me as it is rare to see these birds in my area of the world. Not only did I spot this diminutive little hunter, but the sun was shining brightly!:smile:

This first shot gives you a sense of the small scale of the bird. It is perched on a piece of driftwood.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gscara/5337883598/" title="American Kestrel by gscara, on Flickr">

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"480" height="640" alt="American Kestrel" /></a>

This next shot shows the kestrel hunting.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gscara/5337270033/" title="American Kestrel by gscara, on Flickr">

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"640" height="480" alt="American Kestrel" /></a>

 

[BBW]

How wonderful that you were able to get both of these pictures! I love American Kestrels! They're awfully cute and sometimes it's hard to remember that they are birds of prey...that is until they make their dive!

Love that light in your first!

 

[Grant]

My wife is a pretty active bird feeder as we have a lot stations around the perimeter of our house. One day she was standing in a window, a few feet from a feeder, just admiring all the beauty. A kestrel dove down and picked off one of her babies. While she understands the way nature is she was out the door yelling a cursing that poor kestrel. We have never seen him come back.

 

[Fiddler]

Beautiful.

 

[Narnian]

Very nice! My daughter goes by the nickname Kestrel.

I always thought this was the smallest American Falcon:

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[Ben]

Wow. Beautiful shots. I can't keep wildlife in focus using autofocus! Your technique is fabulous.

 

[Tritoch]

Those are amazing shots of quite an amazing little falcon!

 

[ricseet]

Gorgeous capture - lovely color tone and nice details.

 

[gscara]

thanks for your comments

Thanks for your feedback and comments.

Narnian, I am showing my age but I remember those old falcons.

I don't want to sound like an evangelist, but I have noticed that many people give up on manual focus lenses because they do not experience immediate success. This is a malaise of our times. We expect technology to remove the barriers so we can all experience instant nirvana. We forget that to master any tool, takes hours of practice. The beauty of digital camera bodies is that they provide a rich learning environment with instant feedback. My bottom line is to encourage people to get out there, practice and have fun. The more you shoot, the better the results. It is that simple!

Cheers