EUROPE’S largest industrial estate might not seem like the obvious place set up home – but that didn’t stop this flight of kestrels.

Flixton photographer David Allen captured the family portrait with a difference in Trafford Park.

The 50-year-old quality controller has kept a keen eye on the chicks’ progress since the eggs were laid earlier this year.

David, whose office window overlooks the nest off Mosley Road, watched a female bird returning regularly to feed her burgeoning brood.

“There is a row of vents in the wall. The chicks were in the fourth vent along,” said David.

“They started coming to the area about five years ago. They nested elsewhere near the building and moved to the current site around two years ago.

“The eggs were laid in April and the chicks appeared around June 26. The mother came back regularly to feed them.

“They have actually fledged now. I watched the four of them flying about. A pigeon has taken over the nest.”

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Birds attributes the 1970s decline in kestrels to changes in farming.

The species remains on RSPB’s amber list, but has adapted well to living in urban environments and can survive in city centres.

The Trafford kestrels embody the breed’s tolerance of man-made surroundings – choosing to make their home in the middle of Europe’s largest industrial estate, rather than nearby nature reserves including Sale Water Park.

Kestrels remain a familiar sight in Britain – often seen hovering over the roadside verge for prey.