{"id":8235,"date":"2013-04-28T03:45:55","date_gmt":"2013-04-28T09:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8235"},"modified":"2025-11-21T14:54:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T20:54:52","slug":"female-american-kestrel-in-the-west-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/28\/female-american-kestrel-in-the-west-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"Female American Kestrel in the West Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale American Kestrel perched on a mound of dirt in the west desert – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days ago I spotted this female American Kestrel on the road to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, and I do mean in the road.<\/p>\n

She almost didn’t move even when the pickup was 20 feet from her as we rolled to a stop. I don’t know if she was in Tooele or Juab County at that point but it did seem to be an odd place for an American Kestrel to be, miles from the closest cliffs or mountains and in an area were the vegetation was almost nonexistent.<\/p>\n

She flew up from the road and landed on one of the trail markers for the Pony Express Trail and from there across the road to perch on a small mound of dirt.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Kestrel female about to lift off from a mound of dirt in the west desert\u00a0– Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I took four images of the female\u00a0kestrel while she was on that mound of dirt last Wednesday and I hoped that my exposure was going to work because I didn’t have time to change it before she lifted off and flew out over the arid desert.<\/p>\n

This was my last image of her before she left and I love the pose she left me with along with the memories of an American Kestrel<\/span><\/a> in the west desert of Utah.<\/p>\n

I don’t know why she was there but I am very glad she was.<\/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":"

A few days ago I spotted this female American Kestrel on the road to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, and I do mean in the road. She almost didn’t move even when the pickup was 20 feet from her as we rolled to a stop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[152,27,548,358,26],"tags":[4004,155,2663,4098,4199,4078,4279,4070,4090,6276,4892,4282,2326,165,4055,30,4088],"class_list":["post-8235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-kestrel","category-avian","category-juab-county","category-tooele-county","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-kestrel","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-desert","tag-falco-sparverius","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-female","tag-juab-county","tag-kestrel","tag-kestrels","tag-lift-off","tag-road","tag-spring","tag-tooele-county","tag-utah-2","tag-west-desert"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-lift-off-dirt-mia-mcpherson-9142.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-28P","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":8235,"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, 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Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Saucy looking female American Kestrel, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/american-kestrel-female-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-8016.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/american-kestrel-female-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-8016.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/american-kestrel-female-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-8016.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/american-kestrel-female-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-8016.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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times I have photographed American Kestrels on this same exact post over the years.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult female American Kestrel perched on an old post, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-8952.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-perched-mia-mcpherson-8952.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-8952.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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