Adorable photos show kestrel chicks learning to fly near Much Wenlock

The little birds could be seen testing out their wings on a farm near Much Wenlock in the Shropshire Hills last week.

Andrew Fusek-Peters, 59, captured the chicks, only a few weeks old, huddling together before taking their maiden flights near the tree where they were born.

One funny photo shows a fluffy baby kestrel clumsily stepping on their siblings head to get a higher perch as he prepares to take to the skies.

Andrew, of Lydbury North, said he approached the birds in a 4x4 rather than on foot as they were more used to farmyard machinery than people.

Andrew, who used an Olympus OM Mark I camera, said: "It's a really wonderful thing to watch. They are only a few weeks old and still pretty uncoordinated.

"So of course some of them clamber on their brother's heads to try and get higher up. It's quite funny to see.

"They bred in the tree trunk on a farm based near Much Wenlock and I was tipped off they were there so I headed up in my 4x4.

"You can't walk up to them as they would just fly away so I had to drive my car right up to them and they didn't flinch because they saw me as farm machinery.

"To find them nesting is quite rare as is getting four of them huddled together, which was also really sweet.

"But getting babies learning how to fly like this is quite unheard of I think, so I was really pleased."