2cy male Lesser Kestrel

had mis filed this shot of the 2cy male Lesser Kestrel -- a nice bird

Lesser Kestrel

a few different birds all appeared to be 2cy birds as they probably would be at this date

 below an interesting 2cy male with two new adult central tail feathers and adult like breast pattern but mainly rusty coloured head apart from greyish cheeks

 the 2cy male above landed next to a a female presumably 2cy but difficult to age

Lesser Kestrel

this was a fairly easy 2cy male -- some of the others were not so straightforward and there was a mix of Kestrels , Lesser and Red-foots with up to 40 birds in the air to contend with -- raptors are easiest to photograph against the sky of course but getting them against a background of habitat makes a nicer image as long as the camera wants to oblige

Lesser Kestrel

at least the males are easy -- juveniles were rather more challenging