Rupert’s Visit

As I sat at my Computer this morning I noticed that the usual hustle and bustle around our three finch feeders wasn’t happening today. The reason why became apparent to me shortly thereafter – on our snowy wall at the back of our garden, directly above the feeders sat a little American kestrel.

With a body length of seven to eight inches the American kestrel is the smallest of our North American falcons and about twice the size of our house finches, Cassin’s finches, and American goldfinches that are some of our usual guests at the feeders.

This little dwarf rogue lives right here in our neighborhood and we have observed him and his stunt flying quite frequently; today however was the first time Rupert let me take photos of him. All puffed up to keep warm he sat right above the feeders and was convinced that if only he waited long enough, his feathered breakfast was bound to show up, especially since we also have a heated bird bath in our garden.

After 40 minutes it became apparent to Rupert that he is not the only intelligent bird in our neighborhood and he spread his little wings to pay a hopefully more lucrative visit to our neighborhood pigeons. In the meantime I have obtained enough pictures for several bird of prey calendars, and enough to keep me gainfully employed this afternoon.