Kestrel vs. Seagull

The surprise I mentioned yesterday was this sight; the kestrel being chased by an angry hooded seagull. Wisely the smaller kestrel chose the withdraw at high speed. Later it was the rooks that didn't like the predator's company, but that I didn't get any decent pics of.

The Kestrel is Back

As I've told before I live right next door to a couple of kestrels, even though I live in Copenhagen. These kestrels have made their home and hunting ground at an area called Tipperne, an old city dump turned green area. Often when going for a walk there I'm greeted by this sight; the female kestrel mousing over the area. That was the case last week, but I was in for a surprise. Tomorrow I'll show you that not all the locals where thrilled about this predator.

Keeping out of troubles

After the female kestrel had called it a day after the fight with the crows at Tipperne, she needed a rest in some bushes nearby. And who was also hiding out of sight of the crows? The male kestrel of course. Being wise he decided to keep a low profile until all was quiet again. After having relocated to a higher branch, he was quite relaxed as he let me get really close, maybe within 10 m, before he had had enough of the crazy photographer and flew away. The last of the photos is un-cropped and taken with my 500mm lens at its longest focus length.

The fight for the sky

I've told you before of the park near my home, the Valbyparken. This is often a good place to see some wildlife in the city and I often take a stroll there in the mornings in the weekends. Last Saturday morning was one of those days and as I crossed Tipperne, as the wild area furthest away is called, I saw this; a female kestrel being chased away by crows. She quite clearly annoyed them and chose to get out of Dodge, before they could peck her. Tomorrow I'll show who was hiding behind the bushes nearby.

A hovering kestrel

Taking a walk in an area of Copenhagen that hasn't been developed yet called Tippen I saw this kestrel hovering a few meters above ground looking for mice. It went on for 10 minutes or so, with me happily snapping away and it totally ignoring me. Actually this isn't as rare a sight as I thought as a number of kestrels breed here in the middle of the city along with a great number of other birds. The area has been changed to a protected area so hopefully it'll be kept as it is, a great piece of nature open to the public.