{"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_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":29158,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/10\/08\/a-female-american-kestrel-at-farmington-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":8235,"position":0},"title":"Female American Kestrel at Farmington Bay","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Male American Kestrels usually grab the show with their bright colors and bold patterns but I think the females are equally as stunning.","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 lifts her wings, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/american-kestrel-female-mia-mcpherson-3697.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/american-kestrel-female-mia-mcpherson-3697.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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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 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75886,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/07\/female-american-kestrels-on-the-same-post-ten-years-apart\/","url_meta":{"origin":8235,"position":2},"title":"Female American Kestrels On The Same Post Ten Years Apart","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I was only going to share this image today but as I processed this photo I thought about all the 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-8952.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9793,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/14\/tiny-but-tough-female-american-kestrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":8235,"position":3},"title":"Tiny But Tough – Female American Kestrel","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I would describe American Kestrels as tiny but tough, they are North America's smallest falcon but I don't think that hinders them 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":"Female American Kestrel with vole at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-vole-mia-mcpherson-9710.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-vole-mia-mcpherson-9710.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-vole-mia-mcpherson-9710.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-vole-mia-mcpherson-9710.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14865,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/05\/01\/peek-a-boo-kestrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":8235,"position":4},"title":"Peek-a-boo Kestrel","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I have always liked this American Kestrel image because of the pose and how the female kestrel appears to be peeking at me while she preened.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Peek-a-boo female American Kestrel, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-preening-mia-mcpherson-3591.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-preening-mia-mcpherson-3591.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-preening-mia-mcpherson-3591.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-female-preening-mia-mcpherson-3591.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18140,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/23\/female-kestrel-with-prey-on-a-snowy-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":8235,"position":5},"title":"Female Kestrel With Prey On A Snowy Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been seeing plenty of American Kestrels lately but none have been close enough to get nice images of so I pulled this one out of my archives from 2010.","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 Kestrel with prey on a snowy day, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, 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