Cornish Kestrel part 10

It had been eight days since I checked out our Kestrels and I'm pleased to report that the Male Kevin was seen supplying the female Kate with a good sized Vole, So their partnership seems to be working well again and very positive for another season of raising any forthcoming fledglings.

Kevin  above holds up his prey offering in a classic hand-over pose

I missed the actual prey hand-over being obscured by an over hanging Tamerisk tree but Kate accepted it and flew back into view on one of her favoured eating ledges,

I watched her tearing into the vole in the normal Kestrel fashion through my viewfinder When I noticed that both her upper and particularly her lower beak appeared incomplete,

When I arrived home I cropped a couple of images to check her beak out, the first above looked sort of OK but her tongue was in the way and everything looked a bit gory,  The one below taken when she had finished eating told a different tale with large sections missing.

This is presumable caused by ware and tear and also probably a sign that Kate is getting on in years but other than that she is looking just fine.

She only dispatched the front half of the vole and flew to one of her stash points to hid the rest which is quite common practice and suggests that she had already eaten this morning and also a good indication of abundant prey in the area,