Okay, I promised some more manly birds, but this one is a female, albeit a handsome one indeed. She is an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), the smallest and most common of North American hawks, although I don’t know that I had ever seen one before. They grow to 9-12 inches, a dainty little thing with those marvelous vertical facial stripes. A group of them are called a “hover”, “flight” or  “soar” of kestrels.

She posed atop this cottonwood tree and over the course of 15-20 minutes let me inch to within 15-20 feet. I usually like to get photos of my subjects doing something, and I think she was just showing off what a beautiful creature of God that she is….Don’t pose (except for HIS glory) too often on your journey†††nada te turbe†††jim