The Great Kestrel Count 2011

American Kestrel at Farmington Bay WMA - Davis County, Utah

 I headed out at sunrise to canvas Davis County Birding Hotspots: Bountiful Pond and Farmington Bay for American Kestrels as part of the The Great Kestrel Count 2011.  I was fortunate to find six American Kestrels, two gorgeous males, one female, and three juveniles.  At Farmington Bay, I saw a lady looking at one particularly handsome Kestrel through binoculars, so I drove up next to her and asked her if she was participating in The Great Kestrel Count.  She of course had no idea what I was talking about, but she was excited to learn the name of this beautiful bird.  She said how much she loves looking at birds, but has never taken the time to learn their names.  Folks enjoy birds in all kinds of ways.  They don't have to be fanatical about it like me.

How has your Kestrel Count been going?!  There has been some great participation on Twitter following #KestrelCount.  Virginia Anderson said, "One of my first inspirations for birding was seeing kestrels on the phone lines in Florida."  @showmethebirdie posted a sweet Kestrel photo.  And Dianne Cooper is sharing her Kestrel sightings!

While I was looking for Kestrels, I also was checking out all the other birds I could see.  One really cool sighting was of a juvenile Virginia Rail.  I'd never seen one of those before.

Bountiful Pond at Sunrise

Forster's Tern

Franklin's Gull

Whtie-faced Ibis Squadron

White-faced Ibis at Sunrise