Wow, what a morning yesterday was! On a bit of a whim, I decided to set an alarm for 5:00am. At 5:01 I was deeply regretting my decision, but by 5:30 I was fully awake and walking through the empty streets of Cambridge (where I'm now staying for a summer internship). It was so quiet - and blissfully cool! It was almost like stepping into a different world. During a three-hour amble by the river I saw six hares, two herons, lots of pigeons and this beautiful kestrel!! I heard the kestrel before I saw it. I approached carefully, but did not expect to get this close! Initially I was facing into the light so the kestrel's silhouette was fixed against a fairly bland sky, but as I got closer I was able to shoot through some branches and shift my position to get more of a side-light effect. I don't normally think of birds of prey as being particularly cute, but this kestrel looked so round and fluffy!
Technical details: Canon 7D MKII + 100-400mm lens with 1.4x extender at 560mm; 1/320 sec at f/8; ISO 1000.