A friend and I drove out to the mountain campus of Berry College the other day – a beautiful place to visit if you are ever in North Georgia!

While we were meandering about, we saw a lovely pair of Mallards. The female came gliding in over the lake…

…and then the male raced ahead to make a splash landing in front of her.

He really is a rather dashing fellow!

We also saw an abundance of deer, something that Berry is renowned for. There were duos of does…

…and trios of does…

…and a good number of young bucks.

But the most delightful surprise of the day was getting my first photo of an American Kestrel. It was perched on a wire over the horse pasture, just waiting to get some free range food! I’m pretty sure this one was a female based on her markings.

Kestrels are in the falcon family, and when she flew off, it was easy to see some of those falcon-like features.

It’s always so much fun to get a first time photo!