Because of a bank holiday, the office is closed so I decide to take half a day to go out with my camera. I have in mind to look for a specific species of bird, so I drive to the area around Parma and start exploring the fields.
I am not lucky and the search is unsuccessful, however I see many other species and a lot of raptors. Among those, the common kestrel seems to be present with a few couples. I see male and female pretty far, too far to get a decent shot, but I can observe them mating and I am a little surprised that's happening already, when we are still technically in winter time.
I stay in the area a few hours and I am
able to spot the kestrel a few times, especially the females. One is
also showing no problems having me shooting her while she's consuming a
mouse just captured in the field. She's using a metal pole as her perch.
I shot all the pictures from the car, using it almost as a mobile blind, but I have never been able to get very close so I had to crop quite a bit, depsite I was using the 2X extender.
