Kestrel
This Kestrel has been spotted 9 times feeding from our feeder. How many more birds it has taken without us seeing is anyone’s guess. It is so pretty, but so our are finches and blue tits! Nature is arguably cruel, and I suppose they have to feed, as we similarily eat those pretty lambs I took pictures of at the beginning of lockdown. Shame I can’t quite read the number on his ring.
Garden Life
Life can be tough. This year we have seen masses of Goldfinch, at the same time there have been Magpies, Sparrowhawks and Kestrels, all feeding on the smaller birds. Most days there are piles of feathers around the garden and field where some bird has met its maker. While this Kestrel was feeding, the Goldfinch were still at their Niger seed.
A few pictures taken around our birdfeeders, not birds who feed on our food, but rather birds who feed on the birds feeding on the feeders. So there is a Kestrel, and a regular visitor, a Sparrowhawk. Last year we were sitting in the garden when the Sparrowhawk struck and removed one feeding bird. There was silence for a few minutes when all others disappeared. They soon forgot and were back out. This Sparrowhawk regularly comes and sits on the bird feeders, but had been rather camera shy.
The Redwing and Fieldfare were photographed in out field. There can be flocks of 40 – 50 at a time.
