I worked around this female American Kestrel at San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge in Irvine CA for the better part of 20 minutes. She was very aware of my presence and clearly wondered just what I was doing circling her tree, but she was not worried enough to fly away. I left before she did.

It was miserable light for photography. The bird was on a bare branch against a relatively bright foggy sky (the famous CA Marine Layer), but I had to try. My best shots are at relatively high power, where the bird filled more of the frame, but all required processing for edge flare and purple shadows. Small digital sensors really strain with backlight…and of course, under the Marine Layer, there was not as much light as I might have liked…the ISO values were elevated…and that seems to compound the flare and purple problem.

Still, I got a few keepers. And it is a Kestrel. One of my two favorite birds (the other is the Green Kingfisher). Any encounter with a Kestrel is worth memorializing.

Nikon Coolpix P300 behind the 15-56x Vario eyepiece on the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL. Program. 1) 4000mm equivalent field of view, 1/125th @ ISO 320. f11 effective. 2) 2000mm equivalent, 1/200th @ ISO 160, f5.5 effective. 3) 4000mm equivalent, 1/125th @ ISO 180, f11 effective. (The exposure varied quite a bit shot to shot at the highest power, depending on the position of the bird in the frame. I had to equalize brightness in Lightroom.)

Processed for Clarity and Sharpness in Lightroom. 3) received considerable fill light and brightening to bring up the exposure.