Lesser Kestrel at Extremadura

Extremadura's dehesa landscape—those ancient, low-intensity holm oak pastures spread across western Spain near the Portuguese border—provides an ideal open-country setting for encountering the Lesser Kestrel. This sparsely populated, little-developed region offers photographers uncluttered skies and traditional agricultural terrain that lend themselves well to capturing this species in its element. Visiting in April, as part of the Birds of Extremadura holiday, gives photographers the best chance of finding these falcons active across the region's expansive pastures.