Backyard and Beyond

For the third year in a row, American Kestrels are in the ‘hood! A male has been around all winter, spotted almost every day. But lately a female has appeared. Copulation was observed on 1/23 on a roof pipe just to the right of this chimney pot. No sign of a female again until this past Friday, when I took these pictures.
I suspect they had sex, but didn’t see it. It happens quite quickly.
It was crazy weather Friday. A sudden squall literally blurred my view of these birds on an antenna in the morning. After it passed, the obviously drenched male perched on this chimney shaking and and bobbing his tail up and down.

They regrouped later in the day. These shots were from the early afternoon, when a very stiff wind sent the clouds hurling across the sky. In the first shot above, the birds are facing the weather. We’re talking birds that weigh about 4 oz…
This is the slightly larger female (no blue on her wings) lifting off…

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To build his vanity wall in Organ Pipe National Monument, Trump has waived 41 laws, trashed a unique desert freshwater springs environment, and violated Native American holy places. And now all Republican Senators, but one, have given him carte blanche to do whatever it takes to win re-election, to committee any crime, in alliance with any and every international gangster state and non-state member of the Fascist International.