American Kestrel: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, April 2026 — On my way into the beach to look for the first Piping Plovers of the year, a Kestrel took off from the top of one of the 15-foot-tall maples that now line the road. Too late to even consider stopping, but I told myself to look for it on the way back out. I was, as it happens, running late by the time I left the beach, good plover opportunities and a long conversation with a birder by the cars having ensued, and I almost forgot. But the Kestrel was there, probably in the same tree (though all the trees look the same), and I had to stop and roll down the window for a few awkward shots. I did not dare move the car or get out. I considered it a miracle that the Kestrel continued to sit there while I got the window down and the camera up. The light was not ideal, behind the bird, and the angle was awkward, but still, we take what we can get (and are generally happy to do so—since it is always more than we deserve or can reasonably expect). And the Kestrel is, if I admit to having favorites of any kind (which I seldom do), my favorite raptor—only it isn’t actually. The falcons are, modern genetics tells us, meat-eating parrots. And there is an image to conjure with. Only makes me like Kestrels more. Sony a7CR. Tamron 50-400 at about 800mm equivalent field of view. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.