Colorado Kestrel

Although we had some great weather while visiting Tyson’s family in Broomfield, Colorado, over Thanksgiving, the one chance we got to go birding was not one of those days, despite the fact that it was sunny and our weather app said it was 54° outside. The first sign that the app might have been wrong was a text message from Tyson indicating that there were high winds when he went to church. Then our car thermometer suggested it was really 22° outside. Still, when we stopped the car it seemed bearable since we both had warm sweaters and wind-proof jackets.

I was jacked when I got this shot of a kestrel sitting at the beginning of the trail.

KestelSky

Unfortunately that was the only bird shot I got in Colorado. We made a sharp right turn about fifty yards down the trail and were struck by a bone-chilling wind. After a minute or so of walking I could barely feel my nose. Another minute and I’d had enough, and we turned back and headed to Home Depot to pick up some Christmas decorations. I remembered why my cold-weather bag sitting at home contained a scarf to wrap around your face and a Baklava for even more severe weather while out cross-country skiing.

I might drive 1,500 miles to visit a birding area, but I’m not hard-core enough to risk frostbite to get a great bird shot, been there, done that, ain’t stupid enough to ever let it happen again.

3 thoughts on “Colorado Kestrel”

  1. Holy crap, that’s a great shot! I’ve never seen a kestrel close enough to get a good picture. What kind of camera and lens do you use?

    1. I was really close; it was so cold it seemed reluctant to fly off into the wind.

      I use a Canon D1 with a 400mm fixed lens. It’s about the smallest “birding lens” you need to take shots of birds.

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