{"id":54816,"date":"2018-10-30T05:44:32","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T11:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54816"},"modified":"2025-11-22T13:29:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T19:29:42","slug":"male-american-kestrel-turning-in-flight-small-in-the-frame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/30\/male-american-kestrel-turning-in-flight-small-in-the-frame\/","title":{"rendered":"Male American Kestrel Turning In Flight – Small In The Frame"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale American Kestrel turning in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

As a bird photographer I like to take images where where my subject fills the frame so that all the fine plumage details can be seen by anyone viewing the photos. Also, where a sense of intimacy with the subject is conveyed as it can be when I able to take close ups or portraits of my subjects.<\/p>\n

In addition to those, I also like to take photos where the birds are small in the frame because they can show more of the background or the habitat my subjects are found in.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because even though the habitat the kestrel is flying over is out of focus it lends a “sense of place” to the image that wouldn’t have been conveyed if the kestrel filled the frame more than it does.<\/p>\n

Plus, the size of the falcon in this frame is what we are more likely to see with our naked eyes as humans without the aid of scopes, binocs, or long lenses.<\/p>\n

Did you know that American Kestrels<\/span><\/a> often cache prey to keep for feeding on later? I watched as this male cached a vole at the base of a clump of vegetation before he took flight which is when I took this photo.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,27,1022,697,26],"tags":[4004,155,970,2663,4199,4078,4279,4620,1124,4052,4122,6276,4892,4062,4094,6867,4095],"class_list":["post-54816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-kestrel","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-kestrel","tag-autumn","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-falco-sparverius","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-fall","tag-field","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-kestrel","tag-kestrels","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-turning","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-banking-mia-mcpherson-4297.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-eg8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108592,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/10\/female-american-kestrel-urban-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":54816,"position":0},"title":"Female American Kestrel – Urban Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thrilled to have this female American Kestrel in my neighborhood and viewfinder after an overnight snow fell two days ago.","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 on a snowy light, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-adult-female-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-5862.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-adult-female-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-5862.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-adult-female-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-5862.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-adult-female-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-5862.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108991,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/25\/christmas-day-american-kestrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":54816,"position":1},"title":"Christmas Day American Kestrel","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Christmas Day American Kestrel in 2020 at Farmington Bay WMA. That Christmas Day was bright and sunny, today isn't going to be at all.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas Day American Kestrel, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"April 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Male American Kestrel in low light","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low light male American Kestrel, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-9577.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-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-9577.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-9577.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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