Hovering

After last night's rain, things have definitely improved, with some pleasant intermittent sunshine, although its quite blustery.  I've been hoping for another chance to go and find the gold crests, but its impossible in windy conditions.  I find that I really need to be able to hear their high pitched peeping as they flit through the leaf cover if I am going to be able to locate them.

So instead I went for a walk across the fields.  I was starting to worry that I might not have anything to blip, when lunchtime called and I started back for home.  That was when I saw the male kestrel hovering over a nearby field.  Trying to keep below the hedge line I hurried across as quickly as the muddy conditions would let me go, until I got close enough for this shot.  The wind and the light all came together for once to give me a nice angle on the bird as he hunted.  I hoped that I might actually get a shot of him with his dinner,  but he gave up after a while and so instead, I went home to get my own :-)