Subject: A Question Of Syntax and the Eurasian Kestrel
Date: Nov 3 08:22:03 1999
From: Roger G. Smith - rgsmith at ibm.net


At 10:00 03/11/99 EST Michelle Blanchard wrote:

>Lydia,, it's understood that the use of incorrect syntax regarding the
>Eurasian Kestrel is due to the fact that it is an immigrant to our country.
>They don't speak English very well......;-)

As a native of the United Kingdom I feel I must come to the support of our dear beloved "Kestrels". Those Kestrels in the UK speak English very well; ki, ki, ki sounds just like it should - well, er, like ki, ki ki really. Not much there to syntactically get wrong I suppose!.

Anyway, our Kestrel is bigger than your Kestrel so there!. It's not often we Brits can boast about having something bigger than you Americans!.

For those interested, the Eurasian Kestrel is larger than the Merlin and is known just as the "Kestrel" in the UK. It is the most common bird of prey you will see in the UK and it's typical flight is a series of purposeful flaps along a direct track with frequent rapid breaking into an amazingly fixed, flapping hover. On becoming alert to something it will drop down quickly, either in a series of steps or in just one straight fall (but not a power dive). The nearest equivalent hovering action I have seen in your part of the world (i.e., here in the Lower Mainland of BC) is that of the much larger Osprey. If you are really lucky - if the wind is right - you will see the Kestrel become fixed in the air with a none-flapping hover [close up it is constantly adjusting and trimming it's wing and tail feathers, keeping it's head perfectly still as it looks down]. The UK Kestrel has beautiful rufous (red-brown) wings and back; the female is this colour all over the upper surface while the male has a blue-grey head and tail.

Roger Smith
Coquitlam, BC. Canada.