Kestrel takes a bath

Recent Sightings  Friday 25^th January 'Kestrel takes a bath'

Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report and photos - sounds like a lovely wildlife moment!

 The very wet area in front of West Mead Hide has been a brilliant place for spotting snipe and black tailed godwits at close quarters in recent weeks.

The very soft ground has been ideal for foraging for these long billed waders.

On Friday this area provided a completely different sort of spectacle.   While watching a group of 7 snipe I was suddenly distracted by a kestrel that had flown down into a large puddle very close to the hide.  It became very clear that it had decided to take a bath as illustrated by this series of photos.

First it had a little contemplation – maybe getting used to the feel and temperature of the water?

This was followed by a good ruffle of feathers.

Then a vigorous underwater shake from side to side

This was followed by some more quiet contemplation and another vigorous immersive shake.  Finally the kestrel took off looking rather bedraggled.

I have seen many birds take a bath before now so why did it seem so odd for a kestrel to do it?   I came to the conclusion that, all the while the bath was going on, the kestrel instead of being a fierce aerial predator actually seemed rather vulnerable.  While this was going on the snipe appeared unconcerned, although no doubt keeping a wary eye out, but as soon as the kestrel took off some of them flew away to one the islands for safety.

Curiously a few minutes later, with the kestrel well away, probably drying out somewhere, one of the snipe was seen swimming back to main bank of the pool.   I reached for my camera just too late.  Swimming snipe are not often seen either!  Perhaps it was taking a bath of sorts or maybe it thought that being on the water was a safer way of returning with the kestrel not far away. 

It would very unusual for a kestrel to take a snipe as they tend to prefer small mammals. However I suspect that many birds instinctively recognise all birds of prey as a threat and take evasive action.