Kestrel

It was a varied day, today. I went to get my hair cut, then popped into my old school to catch up a bit. They had their OFSTED inspection and came out with a 'Good' rating, which is fantastic for the school, but knowing the school and the staff, I don't think this does them justice.

After that I had to go into town to the bank - a real hassle now that they have turned our local branch into a TSB. All the way into town, pay for parking, just to post an account transfer form! Might have to think about Internet banking.

Having finished all that, I decided to go to Talland Bay (between Looe and Polperro) to get some big-wave pictures, but the wind was in the wrong direction and was actually flattening the sea, rather than creating waves. In the end, out walked out to the war memorial on the cliffs. There were a few gulls about, so I took a few shots of them in flight and a few landscapes, but it wasn't very inspiring and I nearly went, but then thought, 'no, something might happen that is worth taking a picture of' and stayed.

Sure enough, something happened. A kestrel came hunting along the cliff behind me, so I got some nice shots of it hovering, and then - to my delight - it landed on a rock about thirty yards away for a rest and sat for about five minutes. Lots of shots later, it flew away and I got a couple of good shots of it taking off.

The picture I have blipped needed a major crop, but shows the beautiful detail of its feather being ruffled by the wind.