The Martha s Vineyard Times
A male American kestrel, similar to this one photographed at Raptor, Inc., in Ohio, has been in residence at Katama since October. Greg Hume
While snowy owls and a remarkable invasion of finch species have dominated the attention of birders over the past few months, an attractive and interesting bird has quietly set up shop in Edgartown, amid the vast pastures of Katama Farm. An elegant male American kestrel, the smallest and arguably the prettiest of our hawks, has been putting on reliable performances for months now.
The bird may have arrived as early as Oct. 11, when Lanny McDowell reported a kestrel perched on a Katama farm silo. But certainly by the end of October the same bird that is there now was being reported regularly, most often from the fence lines along the dirt road that crosses the largest pasture at the farm.