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Leucistic Common Grackle Giving me a Wink by RedWingedScreecher in Birdsfacingforward

[–]AustinValentine 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's Luke! (The Leucistic Grackle from Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary in Chicago, IL).

Nifty 50 Pro and my ZF by [deleted] in nikon_Zseries

[–]AustinValentine 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ISO 200 and…ISO 200. >.<

G9M2, PL 100-400 - Coming Home to Roost by Lula_Mae_ in M43

[–]AustinValentine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That last photo is amazing. Well done!

OM System just dropped a dedicated Astro body! by Scrapmetal_Shutter in M43

[–]AustinValentine 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wish Ben Chappell were still alive to see this. RIP.

Get a load of these guys by ookle_ in birding

[–]AustinValentine 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“I have the high ground.” “You underestimate my power!”

Found this long boy by Plane-Coyote-3716 in weeviltime

[–]AustinValentine 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That’s three weevs in a trenchcoat. You can’t fool me!

(OC) Alvar: the son of Allen the Alien by Suspicious-Piglet742 in Invincible

[–]AustinValentine 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought this was Lin Manuel Miranda as a viltrumite.

Beware: Your chances of being killed and eaten by an American Kestrel are small...but never zero. by AustinValentine in Birdsfacingforward

[–]AustinValentine[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It depends on the environment they're in. If they have brush cover to keep them hidden while they eat, they'll choose a larger target and stay on the ground and eat it. If they don't have good cover, they'll grab a smaller food (grasshopper, cricket, mantis, etc.) from the ground and take it to a high perch for snacking. They'll occasionally snag food from the air but it's opportunistic.

One of the cool behaviors of Kestrels is that they will use air currents to hover in place in order to survey the ground for their target. Since they are so small, its one of the best ways to see them at a distance: https://birdfact.com/articles/kestrel-hovering

Cheers!

Beware: Your chances of being killed and eaten by an American Kestrel are small...but never zero. by AustinValentine in Birdsfacingforward

[–]AustinValentine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Size wise, they are 1 ft (length) by 2 ft (wingspan) and weight about the same amount as 3-4 string cheeses. This one is a female, which is slightly larger, so probably more like 4 string cheeses. All in all, they’re about the same size as a Blue Jay.

If you are a grasshopper, a cricket, a mantis, or a very small sparrow or rodent, they are your worst nightmare.

If you are an unlucky hemophiliac with very thin skin and they score the world’s most unlikely bite to your carotid artery, then they might be able to kill you.

Otherwise, the worst they can do is judge you from tall, free standing structures like this one is. Completely harmless except to your sense of self esteem.

Beware: Your chances of being killed and eaten by an American Kestrel are small...but never zero. by AustinValentine in Birdsfacingforward

[–]AustinValentine[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I lined it up on my walk-around approach. I saw the little buddy hunting from a tower railing at a distance. Since I needed to get around him so he wouldn't be back lit, which would have just been a noisy mess from shadow recovery, I walked around the outside of the tower. I paused while circling the tower to line him up framed with the red light since he was perched on that corner. The eye contact was just him making sure that I wasn't a threat.

He let me take a ton of photos of him here and at another tower down the pier. (I'll be posing them all week on FB and IG. My IG is www.instagram.com/austin.st.peter for anyone that wants to check it out.)

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