Yesterday we were walking along the path by the river Deben in Suffolk. It is river on one side and low lying grazing land on the other. A bird of prey was looking for food over the field. Can you confirm this is a kestrel please?
it was unsuccessful over the field so switched to the river where it again stopped mid flight before diving into a small group of sea birds sat on the river. The birds were highly alarmed and flew off but the bird had caught something.
has it caught a bird or a fish?
Do kestrels eat fish?
Kestrels do not eat fish, only rodents, birds & invertebrates ... your pic indicates a bird I cannot immediately confirm as a Kestrel, do you have Ospreys in the area? ... maybe you are having trouble uploading other pics which are too large, 4mb or less is recommended, try downsizing as would be good to see the others!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
My mistake re Osprey as I hadn't seen your first pic, sorry! As Ellis says, definitely a Kestrel ... maybe your pic shows one wing hanging down of whatever bird the Kestrel caught? You can always upload your pics one at a time, you managed the first ones OK ... click on 'rich formatting' under reply box to bring up 'insert media' facility!
Hello Beth, looking at your profile, you're probably fairly new to the forum, so a warm welcome from a rare sunny West Midlands.
I'm not sure if you're aware, but the thread you've replied to is over a year old, and may not receive much attention. So I thought I'd welcome you to the mad house, and hopefully see more posts from you.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler