Even a Kestrel must eat on the fly! NJ

[Donna]

Meadowlands nature Blog!

We spent our lunch hour on the side of a closed North Arlington landfill on Thursday, and so did this American Kestrel.

Our lunch was forgettable, but the kestrel's ...  the falcon dined on a delicacy, in flight.

As the bird first came into view, we could see that it had something in its talons. We were so busy trying to photograph the bird that we did not make out what it was carrying.

It was only we downloaded the photos that we saw the meal  -- a Praying Mantis.

Like humans, kestrels sometimes need to eat lunch on the fly. 

[falconsforever129]

Oh wow, what a great photo...I saw a kestrel near the landfill a couple of weeks ago...might be the same one even! 

[MAK]

   What a wonderful pic!   

[Annette]

Stunning picture! 

[Bobbie Ireland]

What an image, Donna! Thanks! We had a Kestrel Encounter the other evening too - hovered over the garden for ages, then made a dive into the field below. We thought he was in luck, but soon after, he popped up on his "plucking-post", empty-taloned. It was quite breezy, yet that hover was perfect. No photo-grab for us, tho...

As for the Mantis... when the family was at Atlanta Zoo last year or so, the wee great-nephew was more fascinated with the mantis he discovered on path verge than in most anything else.