Kestrel (Farthing Wood)

Kestrel is a fictional character from the animated children's television series The Animals of Farthing Wood based upon the books of the same name by author Colin Dann. She frequently acts as lookout for the others because of her sharp eyes. Aside from Toad, she is the first member of the group to see White Deer Park and it is this that encourages the smaller animals to keep going through the town. When a number of the party become separated from the main group which consists of Fox, Vixen, Toad, Mole, the hares and the baby rabbit, Kestrel, Owl and Whistler go looking for them. The animals are scattered all over the place, after the fleeing the church in panic and running off in different directions. Kestrel finds the squirrels clinging onto a telegraph pole and leads them back to the main group. She also finds Adder with the mice, shrews and voles at a golf course. After escaping from a mower which is cutting the grass, Kestrel guides them back to the main party and reunited, the animals make their way to White Deer Park.

Shortly after the animal's arrival in White Deer Park, Kestrel kills and eats Mrs Fieldmouse. She is horrified to discover this. Kestrel is also one of those who goes to see the Stag, following initial problems such as this. Later, she is seen joining in the search for Badger. When the Warden's Cat is telling Mole that Badger is safe, Kestrel mistakes him for a danger to her friend and attacks the Cat. Kestrel is once again horrified by her own actions. When Badger returns and then angrily leaves again, Kestrel is the only one of the animals to follow him. As a result, she is attacked by the Cat. She arrives while the animals are discussing Badger's attitude and, as he has just saved her life, asks them to be kind to him. As the attack leaves her injured, the herons decide to look after her.

Once Kestrel has recovered, she is seen joining in efforts to rid the park of poachers. She offers to look for Weasel so the animals can ask for her help in the plan. At this point, fearing for her life, Weasel goes into hiding, and when she is found by Kestrel she is pretending to be a gorse bush. Kestrel spies her easily however and attempts to talk to her. This fails and Kestrel eventually goes to her own sentry post. Along with Hare, she is the first to spy the poachers coming.

Kestrel is one of the first to successfully catch something (a non-Farthing Wood shrew) as winter ends, leading Fox to call a halt to the farm raids. She is also part of the joke on Owl in "A Joke Backfires", but finally finds her and takes pity on her, revealing that Fox had not been killed and staying to comfort the weeping Owl. Kestrel also notifies the animals of The Warden's return.

When spring arrives, Kestrel and Whistler go in search of Toad, whose homing instinct is taking him back to his old pond in Farthing Wood. The pond no longer exists as it was filled in. From high up in the sky, Kestrel's keen eye sight eventually picks out Toad, who has been trapped in a jam jar by a human. Whistler swoops down and rescues him and along with Kestrel, carries the jam jar back to Fox's Earth. Toad is later freed from the jam jar by the Warden.

When Fox's son Bold is held hostage by Scarface, Kestrel offers to fly with Fox and she also plays the part of the clerk at the weasel's trial for giving Adder the wrong message.

When Scarface threatens an attack on Farthing Land, Fox sends Kestrel and Owl to tell everyone to meet at his Earth. After Kestrel finishes rounding up the other animals, Fox orders her to keep watch by the pine trees, the boundary from Scarface's territory to Farthing Land. When Kestrel overhears Scarface speculating about where all of the animal's are, she quickly flies to Fox's Earth to warn them of the impending danger. Just as Fox is about to kill Scarface, Kestrel announces that the Warden is coming, putting an end to the fight.

When Bold's mate Whisper arrives in White Deer Park, Kestrel is the first to meet her. She flies to Fox's Earth and informs the foxes that there is a red fox in The Park. When Vixen asks her if it was Bold coming back, Kestrel tells her it was a vixen she met.

In the books, Kestrel is male and passes away prior to the events of "The Siege of White Deer Park". This explains why the character is mysteriously absent from the third season of the television series.