Hi All! We want to share a few photos of the fledglings (and other bonus critters) in the vicinity of the nest box on fledge day. Thanks so much to everyone for tuning, reporting your observations, and engaging in discussion - what a ride! In the comment section, please share YOUR favorite moment from this year's Bosch KestrelCam LiveStream!
For a quick recap of this season's nest, we saw:
-Mighty Mom defend against a starling,
-Five eggs laid from March 23-March 31,
-Mom and Dad dutifully incubate five eggs for ~1 month,
-Chicks hatching on April 27 (4 chicks) and April 28 (1 chick),
-By ~2.5 weeks old, feathers growth revealed that we had two female and three male chicks,
-Chicks received bands on May 23 in partnership with Boise State researchers (special thanks to Shawn Smith),
-One male fledged for a day on May 27 but re-joined his siblings in the nestbox for the night,
-Four fledged on May 28, leaving just one female in the nest for a day; she fledged May 29.
Share YOUR favorite moment in the comments section from this year's Bosch KestrelCam LiveStream!
Comments:
Thank you so much for all you
Thank you so much for all you do. I appreciate Delora climbing up there almost daily for a while to wipe the poop off the camera! I love see the chatter between mom and dad. It was a wonderful group of kids too. I loved sharing the site with the children in my class and look forward to doing it again next year!
My favorite moment was when I
My favorite moment was when I saw two nestlings looking out of the cavity at the same time at about the time close ups outside were set up. Such photogenic birds!
The Kestrel Class of 2016 are wonderfully clever, hardy and robust birds, resilient and well reared by their parents.
God bless 'our' kestrels, the AKP, and all of my fellow bird watchers! The Year of the 'Bird Tweet' on the Lens will be unforgettable. (Big hugs to Delora!)
My favorite moment is called,
My favorite moment is called, "Look Behind You!" One of the male chicks got lucky...for awhile. While ma kestrel was feeding his siblings, pa kestrel landed in the cavity with a mouse. The male chick quickly snatched it away before anyone else noticed. While his siblings were focused on ma and the meal she was feeding them, the male chick was enjoying an entire mouse right behind their backs. While watching, I actually said (aloud), "Look! Look behind you! He has a mouse! Turn around!" I found the situation hilarious because I could hear the chick eating the mouse while the others had no clue. I couldn't understand why they couldn't hear him. Eventually, ma kestrel ran out of food and left. Shortly afterwards, one of the female chicks did notice the male chick with his own plate of food. She snatched the rest of it away from him.
Here is one of the screencaps I took of the mini-saga.