American Kestrel Lady

In a couple of weeks, the year-long reign of the American Kestrel as ABA Bird of the Year will quietly come to an end. Because I'm a bit of a sentimental kinda guy, I was happy to spend a few moments recently at my lunch-hour birding patch with this lovely lady.

You can tell that she is a she, because a he would have slate-blue color on the wings. Usually the female kestrels I see are more dull in color, but this lovely lady had pretty sharp colors.

In spite of the pretty blue sky, it was a cold and windy day. She occasionally had to use her wings to maintain her balance on the pine tree as she watched the field below for voles.

You sweet sweet kestrel. You were a fantastic inaugural bird of the year for the ABA.