Buzzard with a beautiful tail

[nigheandonn]

I know they're Just Buzzards, but I love the markings against the sky. Hovering about in the Pentlands, with some hindrance from the wind.

[jmarkb]

That's "just" a kestrel! Nice shot, anyway.

[nigheandonn]

How confusing. It looked exactly as stripy as the RSPB's buzzard!

Thanks for the ID.

[Mal Grey]

Love the way you've caught the light shining through the tail feathers. Yep, hovering kestrel, female I think as the male has a pale grey head and tail, the female is more of the pale brown/buff colour throughout with the obvious barring on the tail.

Beautiful.

I was lucky to watch one close up last night, only 30 feet away, though it was well into dusk so too late for photos. Beautiful and astonishingly adept!

[CharlesT]

Here's a Buzzard I photographed a while back (just for comparison)

[nigheandonn]

Yes, that doesn't look much like what I saw, but to be fair it also doesn't look much like the RSPB bird finder's illustration of a buzzard in flight, with its spread out tail!

Very different wing *shape*, I think. My knowledge grows slowly.

Although earlier in the autumn you lot taught me that kestrels stay still in the air, which this really wasn't doing - but presumably it was just too windy even for kestrels. Definitely too windy for me.

[CharlesT]

That's a Buzzard on a mission, travelling, not soaring or circling where it's tail and wing presentation would be different.