AMERICAN KESTRELS ON ABACO: ‘LET US PREY…’

To be honest, I haven’t done these fine birds justice. Barely a mention of them for ages. Too much else on the land and in the water to choose from. A long time ago I posted some of my photos from an outing to Sandy Point HERE. And the kestrel kinsbird the MERLIN got some attention a while later. Time to make amends with some more AMKE.

 

As many of the images show, utility wires and wooden posts are a favourite perches for kestrels. They get an unimpeded view of the only thing that really matters in their lives – outside the breeding season, of course – PREY.

 

In my experience it’s quite rare to see AMKEs on the ground – unless they are in the act of ripping up some hapless rodent pinned to the earth. I was with photographer Tom Sheley when he captured this fine bird in the grass at Sandy Point.

Tom also took this outstanding photo, on an overcast day, of a kestrel feeding its fledgeling a large insect.

A good watching post at Treasure Cay a while back

 

A richly-coloured specimen

 A kestrel in streamlined flight, with its feet tucked tightly under its body

Bird on the Wire

 

OPTIONAL MUSICAL DIGRESSION

One of Leonard Cohen’s standards, and a song covered by almost everyone from Johnny Cash to the Heathen Gonads*, Bird on the Wire was on the album Songs from a Room (1969). It was a favourite of Cohen’s, who once said “I always begin my concert with this song”. Covers range from the excellent via good, interesting, and strange to outright bizarre. Joe Bonamassa’s take on it (as Bird on a Wire) on Black Rock, is certainly… unusual**.

Credits: Bruce Hallett (1, 10); Charles Skinner (2); Peter Mantle (3, 9); Tom Sheley 4, 5, 6); Nina Henry (7); Tom Reed (8)

*not really    **shows originality & ingenuity -vs- dents his purist bluesman credentials. Sounds terrible IMNSVHO