KESTREL: predator dines royally at a town centre car park

GRACEFUL and deadly, the kestrel can hover like the most sophisticated military helicopter above its prey before choosing the right moment to swoop down and make a kill.

Death comes swiftly for any vole or mouse unfortunate enough to have caught this elegant predator's attention, courtesy of its needle-sharp talons. The kestrel is one of our commonest birds of prey and can often be spotted above a motorway verge or open field, its wingtips quivering in mute support as it gazes down in readiness to pounce on another luckless victim.

Only 33-36cms in length, with a wingspan of up to 80cms, the male boasts especially handsome plumage.

His chestnut back and wings are complemented by a bluish grey head which sports a distinctive dark 'moustache'.

Although rural kestrels feed on voles, mice, insects and worms, their townie cousins make the most of small birds that come their way, such as sparrows and blue-tits.

I've watched kestrels hunting many times in the wild but one of my more unusual sightings was in the middle of a town.

There, as I worked in a hot, airless office one afternoon, I happened to glance out of the window and noticed a kestrel hunting sparrows over the grey concrete car park opposite.

Dipping and rising in the breeze 30ft above the top floor, the kestrel nevertheless maintained a rigid gaze on potential victims fluttering about among the cars.

While its wings remained constantly on the move, the head was stock-still, thereby allowing the eyes to pinpoint the juiciest target.

The kill, when it was made, happened out of sight but I later saw the kestrel flying away holding a pathetic bundle in its claws, testimony to its hunting success.

A spokesman at RSPB headquarters in Bedfordshire told me that a national survey into kestrel numbers was still ongoing and no final conclusions had been reached at the time.

"But there were believed to be about 50,000 nesting pairs in this country at the last survey a few years ago," he said.

"It appears that we have lost 25 per cent of our kestrel population over the past 25 years with the steady decline probably down to habitat changes. There is less space for kestrels to breed now and less prey as a result of how we manage the countryside."

Crop fields were more barren of potential prey than ever before and subsidies were needed for those farmers who were prepared to make fields more accessible to wildlife, he added.

Anyone who was captivated by the film 'Kes', released in the 1970s, will already appreciate the beauty of this bird.

Unfortunately, as well as being enthralling, the story about a working class boy who takes a kestrel chick from the wild and trains it, was also an incentive to other youngsters to follow suit.

Many kestrel chicks and other birds of prey were believed to have been taken from nests in abortive attempts to train them along the lines of author Barry Hines' gritty novel.

Sadly, most chicks are believed to have perished and it's worth pointing out that the taking of eggs or young birds of prey from the wild remains a criminal offence.

Kestrels lay four to five white eggs with red-brown markings but there is some suspicion that hatching success has been affected by pesticides seeping into the food chain in recent years.

It would be a terrible shame if the kestrel was to disappear at some point from the British countryside.

Nevertheless, my own favourite image of this impressive predator remains clear - its hovering form silhouetted against a perfect blue sky as I played cricket years ago.

In fact, it was difficult to concentrate on the match when not 50 metres away a more ancient game of life and death was being played out.