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Eurasian (Common) kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

Writer: J GillJ Gill

How excited I was to come across this bird of prey, just sitting around at home. Honestly, when I looked up birding opportunities in London when I was back in Canada, I didn't realise come up with much, and I thought it was going to be pretty dismal. I mean, after all, this is a concrete jungle, so in some ways, I wasn't that surprised, even if disappointed. However, I was so happy to be proven wrong. I see some diversity from my flat, and it turns out that there are parks no so far from me where I can find lots of birds. Luckily, this is one I didn't have to go anywhere for. I saw it hover in the air and suddenly dive down. I thought I was going to miss photographing it altogether because I couldn't set up my camera fast enough before it flew off with its catch, but fortunately, it decided to come back and munch its catch on a balcony across from mine. At home, we have American kestrels, which people often just call kestrels, because it's the only kind we have in North America, but here, if you hear kestrel, the person will be be referring to the Eurasian a.k.a. Common kestrel, because that's the only one they have here. I also discovered that you can report your kestrel sightings to this specific kestrel watch page here in the UK, so I did that and was able to include photos. I hadn't been here a month and could already contribute to the birding records of my new home!



 
 
 

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