I have mentioned before that we have a resident Little owl who uses our roof as her base; we also see various birds of prey but I never get good pictures of any of them.
Late yesterday afternoon we decided to walk along the lane and pick some Bull Rushes that were growing in the irrigation ditch; just outside our gate we saw this impression in the dust. I’m not sure if it is the owl or a Kestral, maybe you will be able to give me an ID. I hope there is enough definition for you to see this!
Little Owl?
or Kestral?
I think you will be able to see the tail feathers and the talons as they snatched up the prey. I don’t know what the prey was but I suppose a mouse or if it was in daylight it could be a lizard.
What unusual thingsdo you find on your walks?
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
What a neat surprise that must have been! Did you figure it out yet? I say owl only because I don’t know what a kestral is …ha! But it sure looks owl’ish….
We’re leaning towards it being an owl.
BtW a Kestral is a small bird of prey, there are lots around here.
Christina what a wonderful find, sorry I can’t help on identity, Frances
No idea for the ID but what an amazing image of the bird stoop frozen in the dust!
Aren’t you glad you took that walk at that particular time? I can’t help with the ID but am interested what the consensus is.
I hope someone who might know will stumble across the post, Susie.
Amazing, as if the bird were trying to do a self-portrait in the sand. You are lucky to have an owl using your roof as a base. We occasionally see red tailed and cooper’s hawks around our garden.
Italians are supersticious of large owls, seeing them as a portent of death, but the Little Owl does count for this!
I have never seen anything like that before – or probably just “over”seen it. We often get kestrels near us, and several other birds of prey that sometimes drop bits of their dinner in our garden! But I have never actually seen owls near us – we just hear them up in the woods some nights. Lovely find Christina!
Thanks Cathy, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I looked down and saw it.
We have kestrals too…hard to know, but you can tell with your knowledge of your critters…besides ‘scat’ we see feathers and footprints but not much else as imprints in time…this is indeed a special one!
Yes, I think it very special.
Fascinating! Last winter in some freshly fallen snow, I saw the imprint of wingtips, but it wasn’t nearly as clear as what you saw.
The marks seemed so deep it was hard to believe the bird didn’t hurt itself.