Miles Collins

Finding the best place to see a kestrel….

Kestrel’s are fabulous birds of prey, the day I grow tired of watching them hunt is the day I’ll give it all up. The sight of a kestrel hovering over a field is truly one of nature’s great moments and one I shall never take for granted.
I am lucky to live in a part of the world where ketrel’s are commonplace, Lincolnshire on the eastern side of England is home to rolling fields, woods and hedgerows which make for the ultimate hunting ground for not only kestrels but buzzards, barn owls, kites and falcons.

Kestrel’s are part of the falcon family, they can be found throughout Europe and only those living in the coldest of the northern european countries will migrate during the winter. They are a beautiful bird, quite similar to the much rarer Lesser Kestrel they are wonderfully marked with black, barrel-like swirls across their backs. The adult male has a grey-blue head whilst the adult female’s head is striped like its wing.

I’ve always found that the best place to see a kestrel is by looking at the tops of fairly low lying trees along the edges of country roads. More often than not they will have their backs to the road and be looking out over the adjoining field. Telegraph wires run a close second, these make excellent vantage points for them and once they find a particular one they like will return to that same spot over and over again.

Kestrel at Nocton Fen in Lincolnshire

Voles tend to be the kestrel’s favourite food, it will eat grasshoppers and lizards as well as small birds such as finches and sparrows but given the speed of these small birds the kestrel’s success rate at catching them isn’t particularly good. Mice and rats will be attacked but infrequently, kestrel’s don’t like large mammals which explains its varied diet. During the breeding season they can be seen flying low over fields they have marked as their own, twisting and diving aggresively as they call out to possible suitors.
Kestrels have a distinct, high pitched call which is repetetive and short but cuts through the quiet country air with an almost haunting effect.

Kestrel in Flight