Little Cutie

I was leaving Elmley as it got dark after a fairly productive day with the kestrels when I spotted a white collared bird sitting on some clods of dirt. On investigation, it was this little beauty. He sat there long enough for me to get 15-20 shots off, and then flew away. I checked a couple, thinking "not too bad", then carried on home, only to discover he had landed again at the side of the road. I hung the camera out of the window and tried a few more shots, then edged closer and tried again, until he took off again.
I should point out that by now it was nearly dark, hence the slow shutter speed, but I was so pleased to get the shot that I thought I'd share it.

All C&C welcome please.

Nikon D300 with 600/F4. 1/6th sec. ISO 400. EV 0. Cropped to 40% of original. resting on the wing-mirror of a vibrating diesel van.

Hi Mike
Great detail and exposure on this, but seems a little out of situation for a bird like this.
I suppose we expect them sitting some where nice !!!
What or where is "Elmley " by the way
Nice shot though.
Cheers
JohnR

Thanks for the comment John.

When I first saw the white collar in the murk I thought it was a Ringed Plover roosting on the floor, so I was as surprised as you are to see this. However the kestrels here also spend a lot of time on the floor. There are few trees and the field barriers are ditches rather than hedges. There are only a few gate posts for the birds to gain some elevation.

Elmley is the RSPB reserve on the Isle of Sheppey. It is predominantly fresh water marsh in this area, with some salt marsh outside the sea wall.

It's always interesting to get a shot of any creature doing something out of the ordinary. Apart from looking a little soft on my monitor, I think it's a fine shot and you must be dead pleased to have it.
Eric

Mike

Well spotted and captured I'd be very pleased with this.

Seems like an interesting encounter, did there appear a reason for it to be sitting on the ground? I know one or two posts at the site that they seem to prefer... Interesting encounter and well recorded.

Brett

A guy I met at Elmley told me that he never left there without getting something, and you prove the point. Certainly better than my capture of a juvenile hobby that I put up recently, but I do think it could do with another pass of USM.

David

I think it was roosting. I know of a number of posts where they hunt from, and I found the nest this year in an old crow's nest, but it was very late, nearly dark, and it just seemed hunkered down for the night.

The kestrels here also spend a lot of time on the ground, perched on clods of earth. I have witnessed and photographed it a number of times during the day, but never at night.

Does anyone else have an explanation?

Nice hobby shot I’m missing the heady days of early summer when I was chasing the hobbies round my local patch
I never did get any perched shots anywhere near as nice as this or David’s and Jon’s recent shots though.

I’ve also seen hobbies (and other raptors) sitting on the ground (including on the track at Elmley a few times I’ve been there). To be honest I don’t think it’s anything that’s too out of the ordinary – they’re just taking stock of the situation. Raptors, especially falcons, are pretty resourceful and adaptable little creatures so they often do something unexpected. I’ve watched the local kestrels feeding “hobby-style” on lizards in mid-flight on a couple of occasions and I’ve seen kestrels waiting around barn owl roosts in order to rob barn owls of their prey. They’re often to be seen scrabbling around in the dirt after worms etc too.

Well seen and well captured Mike very nice to see something different the detail is beautiful and I hope you are pleased with your new 600 great capture and behaviour caught well done

A good oppurtunity and a good result, especially considering the very slow shutter speed.

I think he looks as evil as he does cute!! Nice shot given the conditions you were working in. If this were mine, I would try out the new (to me) tool in CS4 - content aware scale, to bring him a little higher in the frame.