American Kestrel in Autumn

I love it when my husband and I take random drives in the country just to see what I can find to photograph.  A recent trip took us down to Henderson, Tennessee, where I used to live.  It's about a 20 minute drive from Jackson, Tennessee, where I live now.  I love Henderson - always have.  The people are nice, the scenery is gorgeous, and the living, peaceful.

We chose to explore a new road to me.  And down this lovely road filled with delicious farm country animals and scenes, I spotted this gorgeous small hawk on a wire.  This was one of my "stop the truck and back up!" moments I frequently have {the husband just loves those :) }.  So this beautiful little bird just sits there, posing on the wire for me, while I'm maneuvering my honkin' big lens out the window.  With half of me going out the window along with the camera, I'm able to capture some nice shots of this bird.  In the meantime, the black angus cattle in a nearby field probably got an eyeful of me!

At the time of the photos, I didn't know for sure what species of bird this was - I was thrilled to discover it was an American Kestrel.  I love this description of the bird on the AllAboutBirds.Org website:  "North America’s littlest falcon, the American Kestrel packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body."  {kind of reminds me of myself}

This is the first -- and only -- Kestrel I've seen in person.  I had to enlarge my original photo of the bird to position it as I wanted for this art.  Then I had to hand paint a layer of detail for the head and tail feathers in order to truly do the Kestrel justice for this picture.

This completed picture is starting off 2014 in a great way, as far as I'm concerned.  One of my goals in 2014 is to bring the beautiful birds I photograph into a more fabulous light artistically, and I'm pleased with this one.  "American Kestrel in Autumn" is a superb art choice for anyone who loves birds and wildlife.  I can assure you, this print will be hanging on my office wall as soon as possible!

InJoy,

Jai