Quite by chance...

During the past few days of wandering the cliff tops and beaches of Poole Bay, I have encountered - quite by chance - a kestrel; one of the two pairs that are said to live and hunt in the area. Not an uncommon sight for the observant, but as is often the case I am either carrying short focal length lenses and the raptor puts in an appearance, or toting a telephoto lens and the bird(s) are nowhere to be seen. Today I chance it, and take both types of lens along... and it pays off.

I count myself lucky, as after only half an hour or so of scanning the skies in either direction for that signature hover, she appears. Having determined that her flight path is towards me, I check all the camera settings and begin to track her movements. Kestrels are relatively easy to photograph if you can get near enough - they tend to stay motionless on the wind whilst scouring the ground below - but frustratingly this time she keeps a respectable distance in this behaviour.

I fire off a number of frames anyway, knowing that despite the long lens my quarry will be far too small in the frame to be of any use, but I do keep a watchful eye out as things can develop rapidly. They do. She suddenly drops from a hover and swiftly flies past me -  much closer, now - to hunt further along the coast. I pan the camera instinctively and fire a burst of frames in the hope of capturing something. Only three of the images are in sharp focus: this is the best of them. Better luck next time.


300mm f/4D AF-S Nikkor. 1/2500 second at f/5.6. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400


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