Re Debbi’s comment Tuesday: she was right. See here.
Now, total change of subject.
Picture your hand with your fingers splayed out as far apart as they go–okay, maybe mine, then, I’ve got small hands. That’s about what I saw diving up and over the other side of the fence Wednesday, clearly in pursuit of a smaller bird even if I only caught the tail end of the scene.
I wondered if that might have been…
Then last night Richard called out to me in great excitement and I didn’t come fast enough: he had seen a hawk! But not our Cooper’s, it was really small, and it had a brown back, and it was yay big, and it was a hawk! And not the Cooper’s!
It was great fun to see him so excited. He said it was bigger than a mourning dove but not by much. I flipped through Sibley’s with him, but he wasn’t sure.
So while at the bird center today I mentioned it.
Sounds like a Kestrel, Linda thought.
Exactly! That was my guess. I googled Kestrel images and, scrolling through them with him just now, he said that definitely could have been it. They are a falcon species.
I have never seen a Kestrel in the wild in my life, or at least not in full yet. I have a whole new raptor to look forward to. Cool!
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The Kestrel sighting is very cool! They are somewhat common here, as well as sharp-shin hawks. Saw one of those catch a bird on the wing in our backyard and promptly do a u-turn and head the other way.
Hawk migration is starting here and the skies are beginning to fill with raptors. It is fun living underneath a major flyway!
Comment by wildknits 08.25.12 @ 3:08 amthey are very cool birds — we had one visit the back fence at my daughter’s a couple of years ago on New Year’s Eve — very amazing!!
Comment by Bev 08.25.12 @ 2:03 pmOh, I love kestrels! We had an injured one at the Cleveland Natural History museum – he and the turkey vulture were the only birds one could handle without the big gloves. But the kestrel was the one you wanted to be holding if the demo was going to go very long – so nice to hold the little bird!
Comment by twinsetellen 08.26.12 @ 6:14 pmLeave a comment
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