American Kestrels from Aransas NWR

Maestro

I am determined to no longer take pictures of these guys on utiltiy lines, but that means I have to travel to where there are none. I visited the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Austwell, Texas 19, 20 and 21 November, 2007. I had a great time with a large number of wildlife around me to photograph; everything from amiphibians to all sorts of avifauna to mammals galore.

The sun and therefore the light was tough to judge at times because of the partly cloudy skies that you typical get anytime you are near the Texas coast. It was in the 80s F the whole time. I had my 40D and my trusty Canon F4.5-5.6L 100-400mm lens ready. I shot in AV mode to control the aperture as best I could. These first shots of the kestrels were shot at F8, ISO 200. Looking back I should have stopped down even more to F10 or F11.







This one flew off after taking a few pics but it simply went to the other side of the pond by the welcome center so I followed it. The sun went behind some clouds, but there was still a glare in the skies. I shot this at F5.6, ISO 200. I should have stopped down because of the glare.



Then deep in the refuge, my wife spotted this kestrel. It was very cloudy, but with the glare, I tried using F7.1 at ISO 200.



Here it took issue with my lens before flying off.



Enjoy. I have many more pics from Aransas to post.

Ric Grupe

That first one is very similar to one I recently posted. You haven't been doing any right-clicking have you, Stephen! barb

raptorcaptor

Nice shots Stephen!

F8 is just fine for these shots! A little fill flash would have helped more than stopping down more.

I like the third photo best!

dbaker1221

good shooting Stephen.. .these buggars seem to hate cameras, or mine any way. saw a ton of them this weekend but didn't even get a shot off.
so you're way ahead of me.

Maestro

Ric Grupe wrote:

That first one is very similar to one I recently posted. You haven't been doing any right-clicking have you, Stephen! barb

Nope, these kestrels are all Texan! At least for the winter they are.

Maestro

raptorcaptor wrote:

Nice shots Stephen!

F8 is just fine for these shots! A little fill flash would have helped more than stopping down more.

I like the third photo best!

You are right. I need to remember to use my flash even on some sunny days. The last ones really could have used the flash. I'm still learning. I agree with you. The third one is the best.

Maestro

dbaker1221 wrote:

good shooting Stephen.. .these buggars seem to hate cameras, or mine any way. saw a ton of them this weekend but didn't even get a shot off.
so you're way ahead of me.

Thanks Dave. I will probably never find another kestrel in a tree perched this whole winter around my home. I will have to travel again.

Harryb

I am jealous. :pissed I haven't been able to get a decent shot of those suckers in a year. They are so difficult to shoot. Good job Stephen

Maestro

Harryb wrote:

I am jealous. :pissed I haven't been able to get a decent shot of those suckers in a year. They are so difficult to shoot. Good job Stephen

Thanks Harry. I appreciate the comment.

Giphsub

Great set I really like #2 and the way it is looking back over its shoulder.

Maestro

Giphsub wrote:

Great set I really like #2 and the way it is looking back over its shoulder.

Thanks Mike. This truly was the first time a kestrel actually posed for me.

BigAl

Nice set Stephen - little raptors are never easy. I like #2 & #3, but in 2 you could clone out the branches in the lower right.

I agree with the others about flash - try it with a beamer as well.

Maestro

Thanks BjgAl. I reprocessed two of them trying to fill the frame a bit more with the kestrel. What do you all think?