It is in fact a Kestrel and one of only three species in the country.
The Kestrel flew in under the roof of the forecourt at the service station and he sat looking at me.
This is a story of some totally unexpected events and I was really thrilled to get it on camera to share with you.
It happened yesterday afternoon when we went to the shop to get some bread and milk.
As we left the shop I stopped at a traffic light and the Rock Kestrel (Falco rupicolus) suddenly appeared in flight from nowhere. About 100 yards back was an entrance to a service station and luckily there were no cars behind me, so I slammed the car into reverse and sped backwards to the entrance of the service station. As I parked in a parking space, the impossible happened, as you saw in the first photo above.
Then the kestrel took off and it flew into this high tree across the wide main road that leads out of town. If you look carefully you can see the kestrel at the left of the center of the picture.
Can't see him? Okay here he was and in fact I discovered that it was a she and not a he. How?
She took off and flew into this hole high up in the tree.
Bang, in my mind I could hear a bang and a claw scratch as she landed.
I am almost sure that she couldn't see me as I was far away, but oh yes, she saw me.
Oh my goodness, it was a kestrel nest.
THEN ANOTHER SURPRISE.
This guy flew in with a call and so there were two of them.
She popped out of the nest to look where he was.
Sadly these birds are very fast and this below was the only shot that I could get of them leaving on their supper date.
What a day it was. We left for the shop expecting to get bread and milk, then Mother nature decided to give me a surprise.
And what a great surprise it was.
And That's All Friends!
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60HS Bridge camera.
We hope that you have enjoyed the story and the photos.
