At first he had breakfast, then a drink, and then a bath.
I think that is a big rock lizard that he caught, but I cannot be sure. How about that? A rock kestrel catching a rock lizard:))
At first, we thought it might be a mouse, but we can't see any hair or whiskers.
I stated in the previous post that I will post this canny hunter soon, and here he is.
The rock kestrel (Falco rupicolus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It was previously considered a subspecies of the common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus).
This species occurs in Africa, from northwestern Angola and southern Democratic Republic of Congo to southern Tanzania, and south to South Africa.
I put the south to South Africa in bold because that is where we live, and that's where this Kestrel act took place.
So, let's start at the beginning. The Kestrel came flying past our car and while I was driving, my wife saw where he landed on a roof. So, I turned off and slowly crept up to him with the car, praying that he wouldn't take off. Once within range, I got out of the car, and here below you will see the rest.
The reason that I said it might be a mouse, is because Kestrels fancy catching rodents.
Here below is an explanation about the kestrel's hunting techniques.
Two primary forms of hunting are employed: hover hunting and perch hunting. Hover hunting describes the method whereby the kestrel remains stationary in the air with minimal wing flapping by utilizing updrafts. Hover hunting generally happens at medium to high windspeeds. It is usually small prey (such as insects) which are caught via this method and are subsequently eaten during flight. Perch hunting is when the kestrel utilizes either natural (for instance cliffs and trees) or artificial (for instance electricity pylons and telephone poles) perches to scan the surrounding area for prey. Rock kestrels have been observed following baboons through grasslands and catching the insect species flushed out.
Then he looked at me and said, So, how's that my friend.
Then he popped down close by into a grass water puddle, left for him by the rain.
Time for a drink.
He was close and I think that he was wondering if he should take a bath so close to me.
But he saw that he was too close to me, and he made another plan. So, he flew across the road.
There was a flat roof, and the rain formed a dam on it due to blocked gutters.
This guy knew it, and although I couldn't see him bathing, he popped out onto the wall.
Nice and wet he shook the water off and then I thought that he was gone.
But not so, as he flew back to the same roof where he had breakfast and look how clean he sat in the winter sun to dry himself.
The great thing for me about the kestrel's hovering action, is that it is only the third predator bird that I have on camera hovering. The other bird is a Dark-shouldered Kite (Black winged Kite) (Elanus caeruleus), and then my favorite, the Peregrine Falcon (Felco Peregrinus).
I know that the post is a bit technical, as many are not bird lovers, but for those of us that love nature, I have attempted to be as informative as possible.
So, I hope that you enjoyed the pictures and the information.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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