ON THE WILD SIDE Britain’s got talons

I’M sure you’ve seen them – those little objects hovering in mid-air over the middle of a field. Barring drones, there is just about one other thing they can be. Yes, we’re talking kestrels.

The most widespread bird of prey across the UK, kestrels live everywhere but the tallest hills and mountains. Until very recently, this sprightly little chap was also our most common bird of prey. But with all the effort we are making to help our larger raptors, buzzards have recently overtaken them in numbers. Don’t worry though, they don’t prey on the same things, so are unlikely to deprive each other of food.

To thrive in an area, kestrels rely upon a good supply of small voles. They will eat plenty of other things too, such as mice and lizards. Some have even been known to take bats, but voles are their absolute favourite. They will eat little birds, but only rarely, when there is nothing else available. They are territorial, but if an area is blessed with a very large vole population, kestrels will tolerate living within a stone’s throw of one another. So that hovering then, what are they up to? Well, kessies hunt this way, watching out for activity in the grass from above – a real bird’s eye view. It has long been believed kestrels can see in near ultraviolet light, and that they use this to follow the fresh trails of urine left behind by naturally incontinent rodents – follow the yellow drip road if you like. Whether this is true or not, they are incredible hunters. But that hovering takes up a huge amount of energy. You won’t see them doing it as much in winter, when to save energy they often hunt from a good perch. Pylons and telephone wires along roadsides are a great place to spot them as they like to take advantage of the open space around them to spot potential meals.