The Kestrel
Kestrels are those cool mini-falcon looking birds that lucky folks will see around St. John. Each year I await the arrival of my new kestrel family, who are thankfully partial to using a nearby bat nest as their home. There’s a lot of squawking during mating season, but once the deed is done, the male switches his full focus to feeding his female. All day, every day, for weeks, the male flies in and out of the nest with lizards and other fun finds for his beloved fellow fowl. Inspiring to see.
Kestrels can be seen riding the uplift in such brilliant fashion that they hover in the sky without appearing to move at all. Like a bird on an invisible stick, these amazing creatures hover before falling straight down like they jumped off a building to surprise their prey. Clever strategy, and by the size of this guy’s little lady, it’s working well for him.