{"id":2197,"date":"2011-04-14T06:20:56","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T13:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2197"},"modified":"2025-11-20T19:49:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T01:49:54","slug":"argh-dont-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/04\/14\/argh-dont-turn\/","title":{"rendered":"Argh.. Don’t Turn!! – Male American Kestrel In Flight With A Vole"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale American Kestrel in flight with a vole – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited, not a set up<\/span><\/p>\n

In February I wrote a tongue in cheek and slightly serious article titled “So ya think ya want to be a bird photographer<\/a>?” that explained some of the joys and pitfalls of being a bird photographer and since I wrote that I find myself coming up with new things I would\/should add to that article.<\/p>\n

Maybe sometime in the future I will simply rewrite it to add all my additional thoughts on the subject.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I came across another thing I should add to that post.<\/p>\n

Imagine that you come across a male American Kestrel perched on a post with a vole and that you would love to get some images of the little falcon eating the prey. So you drive slowly up to the bird, lens out the window after checking your settings to make sure you have the right depth of field, exposure and shutter speed. You are ready so you creep the vehicle up just a tiny bit closer while holding your breath that the bird doesn’t fly away.<\/p>\n

You look through the viewfinder, compose your shot, and lock in focus as your finger presses the shutter button halfway down.<\/p>\n

You release your breath, relax and start to take images when out of your peripheral vision you see another vehicle at the T intersection of the road, in your mind and quietly out loud you mutter “don’t turn, don’t turn, please don’t turn!<\/em>” because you know the chances are that the vehicle will\u00a0head your way\u00a0and startle the bird.<\/p>\n

There are times this happens after you have been on the bird for a long time waiting for wonderful action, the best light or for a lift off photo, you’ve had time to check your techs, and are sitting there watching the minutes quietly ticking away or; as it happened yesterday, just long enough to get ready to take your shots.<\/p>\n

I was fairly certain that the oncoming vehicle would cause the bird to lift off and he did. I mentally prepared myself; in mere tenths of a second, to try for the lift off shots to come.<\/p>\n

As the vehicle passed by the kestrel did indeed take flight with his breakfast in his talons. I was able to get three shots off with the bird in the frame and one when the bird had nearly left it, two of those images had the bird’s wings clipped (delete bin), one was a blur (delete bin), and the image above where I had the whole bird, the prey and light in the eye. I got one shot I am happy with.<\/p>\n

Yes, the frustrations of being a bird photographer… but I still love being one.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Kestrel photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Male American Kestrel in flight with a vole chased off by an appraoching vehicle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,511,27,1022,26],"tags":[4004,155,4021,3981,4199,4078,4279,4052,4122,1130,508,6276,4892,4062,4106,153,165,30,4290],"class_list":["post-2197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-kestrel","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-kestrel","tag-bird-photography","tag-davis-county","tag-falco-sparverius","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-food","tag-frustrations","tag-kestrel","tag-kestrels","tag-male","tag-prey","tag-raptors","tag-spring","tag-utah-2","tag-vole"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-flight-vole-mia-mcpherson-7280.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-zr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54816,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/30\/male-american-kestrel-turning-in-flight-small-in-the-frame\/","url_meta":{"origin":2197,"position":0},"title":"Male American Kestrel Turning In Flight – Small In The Frame","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"While I would have enjoyed having this male American Kestrel closer to me as it turned in flight than it was yesterday morning I found that I liked this frame with the tiny falcon turning in flight being small in the frame too.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male American Kestrel turning in flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, 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2014","format":false,"excerpt":"American Kestrels are fascinating falcons, they are tiny, colorful and at times quite pugnacious.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female American Kestrel with prey in Utah, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-5625.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-5625.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-5625.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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McPherson","date":"February 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"There are times when photographs speak for themselves, they tell a story or show behavior and with my bird and wildlife photography they also show the natural cycle of life. These images may be gruesome for some to view but they show this falcon's natural behavior quite well.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female American Kestrel balancing while eating, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-eating-mia-mcpherson-0880.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-eating-mia-mcpherson-0880.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-eating-mia-mcpherson-0880.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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