Counting kestrels

kestrel
Originally uploaded by wherethewolvesare.

Counting kestrels is one of my favourite in-car pastimes. Obviously you need to keep your eyes on the road but kestrels have the decency to hover over motorway verges and to sit on top of street lamps, making it a much safer hobby.

I once read a letter in a wildlife magazine from a bloke who claimed to have driven from Devon to Scotland and only saw one kestrel all journey. He cited this as evidence that kestrels were struggling. All birds need all the help and attention they can get but I think he was either a poor kestrel spotter or a very conscientious driver. My record count for a single journey is four, over the eleven miles to work. He should have driven through Leeds.

This is the female of the pair that holds territory at the end of the road, where the housing borders onto open fields. She was sat on the lamp-post this morning, presumably looking for a meal to scurry by.